A Reason to Continue
by Myrillis
Summary: Shit happens. Ruby learned the hard way. So did team JNPR. Now wandering Anima in search of Mistral, will a new face make or break their mission?
1. Preface

**Introduction:** Being alone can sometimes be lonely. Sometimes being alone is a blessing. Doing what's right is sometimes more important than what's best. It can sometimes take death to see that.

 **Name:** Cassandra Aotatsu (Blue Dragon more following old-japanese)

 **Age:** 15

 **Color:** Blue

 **Race:** Human

 **Influence/reference:** Overwatch (Genji)

 **Occupation/Setting:** Atlas Specialist

 **Gender:** Female

 **Appearance:** Cassandra stands at 5'5 her skin tone is more of a peach tone. She has normal proportions and is toned (not to the point of having abs). Her eyes are a neon blue and relatively large. She has dirty blonde hair that sits in a low ponytail that lays on her back. Some hair that's not caught in the ponytail is by the side of her face. A round face compliments the rest of her features well. Her left arm is missing, but she has a blue and black coloured replacement. It is well-equipped and the details will be mentioned later in the bio.

She mainly wears navy or blue attire, like her namesake. She wears a simple navy bounce vest ( /images/I/613JoYuP54L._SL1200_.jpg) with a small pauldron on her right shoulder and a black leather bracer with the inscription "前進し続ける(Keep moving forward)" she wears blue and black leggings and the same coloured sneakers. She carries a mask ( . ) that

 **Personality:** When she's around people she's comfortable with she will show some general optimism although those people are few and far between. Around anyone else she is very passive and uncaring. She has a complete refusal to kill and to find out more you'll just have to read.

For most people she needs time to warm up to, some she latches onto right away, but many don't have the patience and that's why she doesn't have a large social circle. She is very frank and rarely watches her mouth around strangers causing those who like to be praised or sucked up to wanting little to do with her. For those she is comfortable she tries to please sometimes too much as she doesn't want to lose them. For those she cares about she is more open and expresses more emotion. As a generally closed off person only those who she completely trusts have ever seen her cry. Her personality keeps her from being social but she shows immense loyalty as you will discover from reading.

 **Skills and Abilities:** Cassandra has the surprisingly ability to play the guitar considering her arm. She plays right-handed even though she is a lefty. She can sing but is extremely shy about her voice although the same can't be said about her guitar playing skills. While normally closed off, the guitar is like a trigger.

 **Weapon(s) and fighting style:**

Cassandra fighting-style is very toned down when compared to a normal hunter. She carries two blades and dust cartridges. Her first blade is a Katana. It's very traditional except for the fact a dust cartridge can be inserted into the hilt in order to power the blade making it more deadly and allowing her to send arcs of dust at her enemies. The second weapon is a Tanto, essentially a smaller Katana in layman's terms. It's used for situations in close-quarters or where a Katana is just too large. Her left arm is also a weapon. Since it's cut off from the shoulder a mount is there in order to remove the arm for maintenance. In the arm is an insert for a dust cartridge that allows for two functions. The first is a shuriken loader that loads directly between the fingers for quick throws. The second function is to launch the forearm with incredible force. It is controlled through a microphone located on her mask or alternatively on her shoulder. A small camera allows for targeting and allows for manual override through voice commands.

Cassandra is a fast-paced fighter and gains the advantage when she gains a rhythm. Her semblance augments her abilities in combat and allows her to do super-human feats. She can also battle defensively but that puts her at a disadvantage due to her generally low aura levels. Her weaknesses include suppressing fire over long periods, hallways and enemies that are incredibly tanky.

 **Aura/Semblance:** Her aura is equivalent to that of Ruby's as her fighting style is similar. Her semblance is hereditary known as Dragon Soul. This is spread into different branches. Her one defensive ability from this is to deflect any incoming projectile, dust or physical for a period of 2 seconds before sapping her aura. An offensive ability is her ability to dash 15m in the direction she is facing at a speed of 90m/s. Her final ability that is both a blessing and a curse is the true Dragon Soul. It increases her physical power by 3fold, but there is a catch. It drains aura incredibly quickly and leaves her incredibly vulnerable to damage.

 **Backstory/History:** Cassandra is an orphan. She's had people take care of her, but the two most significant are Ethan Azure and Qrow Branwen. After she ended up being recruited by the Atlas military and usually goes on solo missions. Her most recent one was guarding Jacques Schnee.

 **Team:** N/A

 **Fanfiction:** The one you are reading

 **Themes:** Beyond by BGH Music

 **Quotes:** N/A for now will be updated.

 **Canon Character statistics (that are actually relevant):**

 **Ruby Rose:** 16 years old, 5'7

 **Nora Valkyrie:** 18 years old, 5'1

 **Jaune Arc:** 18 years old, 6'1

 **Lie Ren:** 18 years old, 5'10

 **Qrow Branwen:** Age unknown, 6'5

 **Yang Xiao Long:** 18 years old, 5'8

 **Wiess Schnee:** 18 years old, 5'3 (Heeled)

 **Blake Belladonna:** 18 years old, 5'6 (excluding ears)

 **Pyrrha Nikos:** 18 Years old, 6'0 (Heeled)

 **Cool so this was updated as of March 10, 2017 and I've made some minor changes, such as changing Cassie's height slightly, and making Ruby taller than she is canonically (Come on, how did she not grow).**

 **I know this is a lot to ask, but if you find anything not making sense, please tell me, otherwise I won't know. It's harder to correct one's writing if not given insight from an outside source**

 **Anyways, have a good day, Myrillis**


	2. Initiation

' **Sup to anyone who's actually reading this. I've taken time away from writing for a while mainly because of school, but Imma try to be as active as possible (Don't quote me on that :P) BTW Imma assume you guys know the characters so yeah. So without further delay let's do this. This is more of an introduction chapter so don't expect too much action.**

 **I just want to thank some very special writers for inspiring me to write this story: smstanton, the first fanfiction I ever read. UGX7, for bringing back one of my favourite characters in one of the most interesting ways possible. Etheriell for one of my favourite pieces so far. And last but not least Angry_Face for bringing a new vision of RWBY to me.**

 _ **BTW Italics is just background knowledge letting you know where or when things are taking place… and don't hate me for this, everything before Tipping Point is canonical. And to UGX7 you and I have the exact same feeling about Pyrrha.**_

 _Somewhere in Anima, around Chapter Sometime before Chapter 6 - Tipping Point_

A lone figure was wandering the forests of Anima seemingly looking for something or someone for that matter. Somehow she found something of interest and followed some sort of path. Very few knew what she was doing there, not even her target.

She donned clothes of blue that reflected her nature; powerful, loyal and calm. Of taller than average stature she stood at 5'7, choosing not to wear heels as to not impede her in battle. An automail arm replaced the left arm that she had lost, hidden within it were weapons to aid her in combat. A Tanto was mounted on her back, to be grabbed with her right, as well as a Katana to be grabbed by her left. The Katana's sheath had was specially designed in order to make unsheathing quick and efficient with joints on specific parts of the sheath.

She wore a simple navy coloured armoured shirt. The left sleeve was missing, and she had a pauldron mounted on her right arm. She wore leggings that were incredibly light and protective that restricted no movement. On her right arm was black leather bracer the message "前進し続ける(Keep moving forward)," inscribed on the outer face.

Her long dirty-blonde was kept in a low ponytail with the remainder side-swept. Her face was oval shaped. With neon blue eyes she had a pretty face. Her eyes spoke of her namesake as did her clothing. She was a warrior and a peacekeeper. Reserved, yet outspoken. She was not perfect, she was not dreadful. And she knew all of this, this is what made her who she was. Her past, what was to come only added to who she knew she was.

As she continued down her desired path gunfire was heard from her intended destination. She reached for the mask on her hip and placed it over her face and proceeded to the target faster than before. She found herself sprinting towards a village with a bad feeling, hoping she would find what she needed and get there before anything bad happened. As she neared she heard more gunfire with the addition of yelling and blade strikes. Running into the village she followed the direction of the sound until the sound of breaking wood was heard and a sharp gasp right afterwards.

She dashed to the top of a building only to see Ruby slash the stinger off a scorpion faunus.

"YOU BITCH!" he cried as the others began to form a wall between the faunus and the girl.

"She'll forgive you," he said as the girl threw a triad of shuriken at the faunas as he ran away. She proceeded to climb down to find herself face to face with the group as well as someone she knew quite well.

"Knew I'd find you here Qrow," she said.

"Good to see you kid," he replied.

"Bad luck seems to find you wherever you go doesn't it," she replied.

"Hey who are you," said Jaune.

"I'm sorry if we aren't that trusting right now but what just happened has us on edge," replied Ren.

"I completely understand, so I'm going to show a sign of good faith and drop my Katana, and once you sheath your weapons I'll drop my Tanto. How does that sound?" said the girl.

"That seems fair but that arm seems really dangerous," said Jaune.

"If it scares you that much sure, I'll do it. Being alone out here sucks anyways," She slowly removed her Katana, and in turn the group sheathed their weapons. Afterwards she stored her tanto within her arm and said "At least this doesn't hurt nearly as bad as putting it back on," before removing the arm and placing it next to her weapons.

"Alright, now tell us who are you," said Jaune.

"My name's Cassandra Aotatsu, pleasure to meet you all," she said while removing her mask. She stuck her hand up in the air in surrender. "Can I ask something?"

"Go ahead I guess," said Jaune

"One: Qrow what the hell happened and Two: why are you even here?!"

"Well Cass, these kids had the exact same question and I'm going to ask you all a question. What's your favourite fairytale?" he responded.

"What…?" Cass responded.

"Huh?" Nora wondered.

"I don't understand," said both Jaune and Ren.

"What does this have to do with anything Uncle Qrow?" said Ruby.

"Well before I say anything let's all go to somewhere safer. And since you requested that Cass over there disarm herself, why don't you carry her weapons for her blondie,"

"No I didn't," said Jaune.

"Just do it, I mean she literally took off her arm for ya,"

"Fine," said Jaune.

They started walking past the village and towards Mistral. About an hour was spent in awkward silence. Eventually Ruby went up to the new girl and started to converse with her.

"So Cassandra right, why are you here?" she said

"I'm here 'cause I've been recently assigned to watch over old Qrow over there and I guess I arrived a little late. Oh, and please call me Cass or Cassie," said Cass.

"Alright, that's fine. Uhm how old are you?"

"I think I'm 15. You?"

"Same. Wait what do you mean assigned, you're not even old enough to go to a school for hunters and huntresses!"

"I could say the same thing,"

"Well I was picked by Professor Ozpin due to my skills in combat,"

"I was picked by General Ironwood to start training for the exact same reason,"

"Huh,"

"Let's just say we're both special,"

"Alright so how did your parents respond to your acceptance,"

"Well ahem I wouldn't know sadly. I haven't really had parents. I was an orphan since I was 5 and my elementary school let me bunk there for a few years. Then with some miracle I managed to get my hands on a weapon and supposedly showed enough skill to get a scholarship to pre-hunter academy. Then the story reaches this point, so yeah nothing really super interesting,"

"Fair enough I guess,"

"So how 'bout you silver eyes, what's your reason for being here?"

"Well after the fall of Beacon we got a lead from Uncle Qrow about how Cinder could be here in Mistral so that's basically it,"

"Ironwood says that it was pretty bad, I was handling the defense of some Schnee. He was a nightmare, he also attracted a crap tonne of Grimm because of his constant negativity. It also got annoying when all he did was criticize my 'barbaric' fighting style,"

"When did you stop guarding him exactly,"

"About a week after the Schnee girl returned,"

"Which Schnee?"

"The young one,"

"Are you sure?"

"I work with Winter some what often, so I can tell the difference,"

"How did she seem, was she okay?"

"She seemed real upset, although since I was kept in the servants quarters I really didn't see all that much of her. Why all the questions?"

"She was my teammate, but after the fall of Beacon, team RWBY split up,"

"That sucks, well you got good people watching your back so you shouldn't worry too much about yourself. And I bet your teammates are doing just fine, the Schnee girl seems like a real fighter. The blonde one could probably down a building on her own. Don't know too much about bow girl, but seeing you I think they're doing fine,"

"I hope…"

"Alright kids, this seems like an okay place to bunk so let's talk,"

 _A few hours later._

"Really no questions?" said Qrow after some explanation.

"I have a crap-tonne but this is a lot to digest," said Cass.

"I think we all do," said Jaune, "But you were using Pyrrha to get yourselves a maiden weren't you?"

"She volunteered kid. She knew the risks involved. She made her choice, and you were there," replied Qrow.

"Why was that guy Tyrian after me?"

"Well with what you did at Beacon, you painted a target on your back. Not many people have silver eyes kiddo. That and the fact that you used them have caused some pretty bad people to want you out of the picture. So I've been keeping an eye on you. All of you,"

"Then why didn't you just travel with us?" she replied.

"He was using you as bait," said Jaune.

"Whoa there bud. That's a pretty big accusation to make. Now Qrow may be rough around the edges, but I don't think he would ever do something like that," interjected Cass.

"Who asked you? And why are you even here," Jaune shot back.

"'Cause I was tasked with finding and helping Qrow with whatever the hell he's doing. Ironwood seems to think whatever he's doing is pretty important and I may not like many of Ironwood's orders, but this one seemed like it was in the right place,"

"Jimmy sent you?!" said Qrow

"Yeah, and I can see why," replied Cass.

"Well whatever the reason, it doesn't matter. I guess we could really use more hands, considering what just happened,"

"What is all of this? Ruby's being hunted, the schools are being attacked, all for what?

What is the point of all of this?" Jaune shouted standing up.

"Would you sit down? You're stressin' me out, kid. Not many people are super religious these days. This world's been around for a long time, long enough that people have created dozens of gods. But if you believe Ozpin, two of them are actually real…" said Qrow as he told the tale of the two brothers.

"What does this have to do with any of us?" asked Ren

"It's complicated but the short story is that each of the gifts to humanity has a physical form and that's what the bad guys want. See every Huntsman Academy was built to train generations of hunters to come. But they each held those gifts in the form of relics, and of course the bad people want 'em. Specifically her.

"Salem?" asked Ruby.

"That's right. Now we know next to nothing about her but what really matters is that she wants those relics, and if she does it's not gonna end well,"

"Let's say we believe any of this utter bullshit. That some evil Bitch is behind all of this, is the reason that Pyrrha's dead. The reason for the attacks on Beacon. Why doesn't the damn world know. Why is no one hunting them down!"

"Shouldn't we be hurrying to Mistral then. To at least send a message," said Nora.

"The Headmaster at Haven saw what happened at Beacon. He knows better than to just sit on his ass. And the reason why no one's hunting 'em down. We can't cause a panic. Negative emotions bring Grimm. We all know this. If the public were to know of an imminent threat, fear would be in the air. Ozpin believed that if any of this were to get out to the public, we'd have another great war on our hands. That's just a shitty situation," replied Qrow.

"Uncle Qrow?" asked Ruby after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help you, but why couldn't you trust me? I trust you, but it really hurts to think that you just couldn't tell me,"

"It has nothing to do with trust, it's complicated, really complicated," he said.

"You might as well tell them now Qrow," interjected Cass.

"Not. Now." Qrow stated.

"They deserve to know just as much as I did back then. It was hard on me at first but they need to know the real reason. Now more than ever,"

"What do we deserve to know? Qrow you better have a damn good reason 'cause right now I'm having a hard time listening to your bullshit," Jaune demanded.

"Listen Jaune, this is as difficult to hear as it is to tell so just calm your ass down for at least two goddamn minutes," retaliated Cass.

"Alright Cass, Jaune. Cool it 'cause I'm only gonna say this once. Crows as you should know are generally a sign of bad luck. Some people have their speed, or absorption of electricity for their semblance. Mine's more subtle. It's where my name comes from. I bring bad luck to those around me. It's real sweet when fighting an enemy, but it's hard on friends and family. I didn't want to put you at risk. There's a reason behind everything and that's mine," said Qrow.

"Well that's just great. The best fighter of us all, brings us all bad luck. Damn it. We're screwed aren't we," Jaune said while storming off.

"Jaune!" shouted Nora and Ruby.

"Let him vent. He is feeling distressed from the news we have just taken in. We all should take time to process this new information," Ren stated calmly. "I shall go ready the sleeping bags,"

"I'm going for a walk," said Qrow.

"Is that all you wanted to tell us?" asked Ruby.

"Yeah. For tonight," he responded.

"Well I'm going to go help Ren. Toodles," said Nora as she left to help her partner.

"Guess that just leaves the two of us," said Cass.

"Yeah…" said Ruby.

"Look I get it. You don't know me. Well between you and me I think that Ren guy's kinda cute,"

"What?!"

"I'm just messing. I'm not into guys anyways. I learned that from Ethan…" Cass said as her tone saddened.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked.

"I'm fine," Cass said dismissively. "Look Ren and Nora are back,"

"Cassandra, we don't have a sleeping bag for you, although I am willing to lend you mine," Ren said as and Nora returned.

"That's fine Ren, I have my own. It's in my bag by Jaune and my stuff," she replied.

"Alright then. I'm going to find Jaune so we can get some sleep. I believe Qrow will return on his own terms. I suggest you all go get some rest," he said.

Nora grabbed the sleeping bag from Cass's bag and handed it to her.

"Thanks Nora," she said.

"No problem. You seem nice enough even though you butt heads with Jaune a little," Nora said.

"I honestly don't blame him, but after what Qrow did for me I can't help but at least try to take his side," she said in response.

"What did he do?"

"That's for another time. I don't like talking about it,"

Ren and Jaune returned from wherever they were.

"Listen Cassandra, I see that we don't agree on somethings, but I'm willing to call a truce. Is that okay?" Jaune said.

"Cool with me," she responded and they shook on it.

Soon they were all asleep. Or some of them were. Ruby awoke to the sound of quiet sobbing. It sounded female, but it couldn't be Nora because she was right there. Ruby followed the sound to a tree. She heard whispers. She made out words such as "I'm so sorry," and "Why am I such a failure,"

"You're not," left Ruby's mouth before she even realized it.

"Who's there?" said Cass from atop the tree.

"Just me," said Ruby.

"Why are you even awake? You shouldn't be here,"

"Well with the way you're acting I think I'm needed," Ruby stated.

"I'm fine," Cass said rather unconvincingly.

"No your not, and I'm coming up there,"

"Not like I can stop you anyway,"

"What's the matter Cass? Look I'm sorry for scaring you. You may not know it, but you need somebody right now. And for now I'll be that person,"

"Damn it. Whatever. It's not like you can do much. I'm basically a lost cause. The only thing I'm good at is fighting and right now I can't even do that,"

"Well you've done enough to make yourself an Atlas Specialist. That means you're incredibly strong. Just because you've had bad times doesn't mean good times aren't coming,"

"That doesn't change what happened,"

"Then tell me what did happen,"

"Fine. The day I lost my arm was the day I lost the closest thing I had to a parent. Ethan was that person. He was a hunter and he took me in when I was ten. He trained me and he died protecting me from other people. People that only cared about what they wanted. They didn't need to attack our ship but they did and many people payed the price. They were the White Fang. You might think I hate all faunus, but I don't. The last thing Ethan said to me was to 'keep on living Cassie'. He was a good man and didn't deserve to die to some radical faunus who want superiority rather than equality. He believed in the White Fang funnily enough. He wanted equality for everyone and I still do too. When I started training to become a hunter, he made me swear to never take a life. Now I understand why. It affects so many people. Even though the Fang did what they did, I could never take a life. Not just because of his beliefs, but because I was affected by a killing. I'm not a great person, but I have never killed and I never will. Thing is I'm failing him. The closer that Salem gets to her goal the more death will happen. I need to stop ranting. I'm sorry for making you listen Ruby. But thank you for letting me get that off my chest,"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have forced you to talk about it,"

"You were right though. I guess I'm just being petty,"

"You're not. I was there when Pyrrha was… killed. The others weren't there. It was horrible and I couldn't do anything about it. I don't know what happened after but I realize now more than ever that the best thing we can do for them is to continue along our paths. They would want us to keep moving forward for them. That's all we can do for them now. Hold on for a second," said Ruby before dashing off.

"Okay…" replied Cass dumbfounded at how fast Ruby disappeared. She climbed down the tree only for Ruby to return seconds later with Cass's left arm in hand.

"Well then. Thanks, but could you hand me something to bite on real quick," said Cass.

"Here," said Ruby as she handed over a piece of jerky.

"Thanks. Now this is going to hurt me a lot okay, but I need you to make sure I don't fall asleep or go unconscious because that could be real bad. I mean keep me awake any way possible. I'm going to place the arm now and activate the locking mechanism,"

"Arm locked, ready for engagement. Initiate connection now?" said the arm.

"Yes," said Cass apprehensively. "Here we go, remember what I said." she said before placing the jerky in her mouth, biting down onto it.

Mechanical whines were heard and a locking sound was heard as the arm made contact. Just as quickly Cass fell to her knees looking like she was about to faint.

"Oh no! Stay awake please. Uh…" Ruby slapped her to keep her awake. Soon after Cass spoke.

"Damn. Hurts every time. Thanks Ruby," Cass said in gratitude. "Before I forget and before Jaune throws a fit at you and me here's my Tanto," she said as she removed the blade from the underside of her forearm.

"No problem. By the way how long do you think you're staying,"

"Since Qrow's mission is to help you guys, I guess you're stuck with me," she responded.

"Nice," said Ruby.

"I guess you finding me tonight was actually a good thing huh?"

"It really was," said Ruby as Cass hugged her. She returned the hug.

"Thank you Ruby,"

"No problem Cassie,"


	3. Rewind

**Look I know this one's short, but I think that this was a better way to split the Chapters of Volume 4. Consider this Chapter 8 and the next one will follow the events of Chapter 9 while adding in some stuff to add to the limited source material. I actually might consider combining Chapter 9 and 10, let me know what you think. Oh just a warning, I will be going full non-canon once volume 4 ends so be wary, and sorry if that deters any future readers.**

 _Five years ago, somewhere in Atlas._

"Give it up girl. You can't beat all three of us," said a boy clad in black

"Says who. I'll kick all your asses!" Cassie responded.

"All we want is that guitar," said a different boy wearing green, referring to the guitar that she kept hidden in the school.

"You're not getting it!"

"Fine. Don't say we didn't warn you," said another boy in red as he threw a punch.

Cass quickly dodged the punch returning with a quick jab to the face. The red boy responded by throwing a punch of his own only for it to miss, causing him to fall due to over-committing. The boy in black landed a kick to Cassie's stomach, not hard enough to wind her, but enough to put her on the defensive.

Each boy was throwing punches and they were pushing her closer and closer to a wall. She managed to duck under the red boy's punch and trip over the green boy. She turned he focus to the boy in black. She threw a quick kick to the kid's family jewels and he went down hard immediately after. Cass suddenly found her hair being pulled and her head followed. She landed on her back with red on top of her punching as she blocked as many as she could. Green got back and pinned her arms and all she could do was take punch after punch. She was struggling when she managed to get enough force to buck Red off with her legs and fell onto green who in turn released her arms.

She quickly crawled out from under the boys and got up. She started to run away, when she ran right into a man.

"What the hell is going on here?!" he said as he stepped between her and the boys.

"She started it!" shouted the boys.

"Oh really? It seems like you boys got your asses kicked that's what. How old are you anyways?"

"Twelve," they answered.

"How old are you missy?" he asked Cassie.

"Ten," she said timidly.

"Wow… Well that's even more hilarious. Three twelve year olds got beaten by a ten year old. That's great. You're not in trouble missy, I can already see how this started. She was on her own and had something you wanted, so you thought you could bully her out of it. Guess what I don't like bullies. The principal's gonna have a hoot dealing with you. You can go to her office now, or wait to be called down. Don't expect me to forget your faces, I have an eidetic memory," he stated with some intimidation.

He turned to Cassie. "So do you have a name?"

"C.. Cassandra," she responded.

"Is it okay if I call you Cassie?"

"Yeah… What's your name?"

"It's Ethan Azure,"

"Thanks…"

"Now because this was a fight, I'm going to have to let your parents know about this. I'm not gonna say anything bad because all you did was defend yourself. And did a damn good job of it. Would you mind giving me their number?"

"I can't sir…"

"Will they be angry, because I will personally speak to them to make sure that you won't get in any trouble. I think the bullies got what they deserved,"

"I can't…. because I live here,"

"What do you mean live here?"

"I… I… I don't have parents…" she said as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"I am so so sorry Cassie. I didn't know. How about we go find the thing that they wanted from you huh? I can tell you stories about my time as a Hunter. They're really cool and I think you'll like 'em," he said trying to stray from the subject.

"It's in the music room…" she said.

"Then we'll head to the music room,"

Ethan began to tell stories about all the Grimm he fought and his time at Beacon academy and Cassie was enjoying listening to them. They eventually made their way to the music room where Cassie made him follow her to a little sound booth.

"No one, but Ms. Sharp and I know about this little compartment right here," she said before opening a cupboard behind some of the sound proofing.

"Who's she?" Ethan asked.

"The old music teacher who moved away. She was the one who let me stay at the school. She liked me. She like listening to me play this," she said as she removed a large case of sorts from the cupboard.

"What's that?" he asked again.

"A present she gave me before moving away," she said revealing a beautiful guitar kept in pristine condition.

"Whoa. That's sweet. How long have you been playing?" he asked.

"Five years. This beauty is the absolute most amazingest gift I have ever gotten, or the only gift I've ever gotten…"

"Cheer up kiddo, how 'bout you play something,"

"Okay, but don't laugh…" she said before she started playing the song "A River Flows in You," _**(If you wanna here to version I'm talking about search up the song followed by Sungha Jung).**_

"Damn kid, that was beautiful. I can see why your teacher gave you that guitar," he finally said after a few seconds of awe.

"Thanks, I thought you didn't like it at first," Cassie said.

"Look this might be a difficult question to ask, but where do you, you know sleep?"

"I usually sleep here actually. My sleeping bag's in the same place as my guitar,"

"Look, I know that I just met you, but you seem like a good kid. So I have a offer to extend. I just bought an apartment here and it's a two bedroom place and I don't feel right just leaving you here. You don't need to answer but it would make me feel like less of an asshole,"

"Yes,"

"Wait what?"

"I never thought I'd have a home to go to before I got a job. So yes, I'd love to stay at your place,"

"Cool, I guess that settles it. You now have a new address,"

 _Present day._

Cassie awoke with a start after hearing some coughing and so did Ruby. They both got up and ran over to the source of the sound which was Qrow. He was clutching his wound and coughing up a storm.

"Are you okay Qrow?" asked Cassie tentatively.

He removed his hand from his mouth only to find purple covering most of it.

"Well, that's unfortunate."


	4. Moving Foward

**Chapter 3**

"Damn it," Cassie said after decapitating another beowulf who crossed her path. Ren and Nora were taking care of other Grimm beside her.

"Why are there so many Grimm now?" she thought aloud.

"We are all expressing negative emotion due to the events that have transpired. We remained relatively neutral throughout the journey, but now we have Ruby and you feeling grief and guilt over what happened to Qrow. Jaune feeling anger and fear towards Qrow. This time Nora's positivity cannot balance it out," Ren responded.

"Guess that means we just stay one step ahead," said Nora.

"I agree," said Ren. "We must remain vigilant if we wish to keep Qrow alive,"

"Do you know of any place that might have medical supplies? Anywhere at all?" asked Cassie. Desperation was beginning to show as she looked back to see Qrow in pretty bad shape.

"I do not," stated Ren.

"We gotta be close to someplace," said Nora.

"Without the map there is no way of knowing. I feel like we're close to something. Wait here, Cassandra, Nora with me,"

"Hey look, we're on the right path," said Nora.

"Hhm," muttered Ren with a somber expression.

"The path to Mistral leads up that mountain though, and I don't think Qrow can make the climb. Shit," said Cassie.

"Hey how about Kuro...yuri? Can we get help there?" asked Ruby.

"That village was destroyed years ago," said Ren.

"But if it takes us around the mountain, it's the best bet we've got right?" asked Jaune.

"It will take too long," said Ren dismissively.

"There must have been a doctor there though, maybe we could find medicine there?" asked Ruby.

"You will find nothing there. We just have to press on," Ren said with more force.

"Ren, why are you acting li-," Jaune tried to say before Nora said, "We can split up,"

"Wha…" said Ruby.

"Ren and I can cut through the mountains, while the rest of you take Qrow through the village," Nora said.

"No. We're supposed to stick together damn it. We keep each other safe," said Jaune.

"We don't have time for safe Jaune. You have another capable fighter to help you out. We can go to Mistral and bring help, and if not, at least we can have a better view of the land. Up there we can see if there's anywhere else we can go,"

"I don't know if my opinion matters, but she's right. We need to make a decision now. I'll follow your lead, but my recommendation is that we split up. We NEED the help. If we get lucky in the village great, but we can't bring Qrow up the mountain,"

*Cough* *Cough*

"Okay…" Jaune said before hugging Ren, "Just stay safe,"

"We always have,"

"Good luck you two, see ya on the other side," said Cassie.

As their paths diverged Ruby stated "They'll be fine Jaune,"

"You don't know that,"

"Hope for the best Jaune, now more than ever," said Cassie

 _3 Years Ago_

"Oh shit!" said Ethan, as he blocked a strike from Cassie. Ethan thought it would be a good idea to teach Cassie how to fight, and over the two years that they had known each other, Cassie had massively improved. He was surprised that he was getting beaten on a regular basis. And this was no exception. Before he knew it he was sitting on the ground with a katana pointed towards his throat.

"You give," said Cassie.

'Yep," said Ethan. "Great job as usual. Maybe you could find another punching bag,"

"Ethan, you're no punching bag, believe me. It's all about the mind game and it worked. I made you think I wasn't trying, if only you could hear my thoughts," she responded.

"Good to know that I'm not that bad,"

"We've gone over this like a million times. My fighting style literally counters yours. You fight with a giant axe, and you rely on landing your hits. I'm fast and can run circles around you. By the way, you pack a huge punch so if you get your hands on anyone, I'd feel sorry for them,"

"Thanks Cass,"

"No problem, E. Hey do you know when Qrow's comin'?"

"He said he'd be here around 4, and knowing him he'll get here at 6, so I'd say we have another 3 hours or so,"

"Cool, wanna watch the new Spruce Willis movie?"

"I'm surprised you're asking me and not one of your friends,"

"No one likes fighting movies as much,"

"I'm sure one of the boys in your class would love to go with you,"

"They're all boring,"

"Do you like any of them?"

"Nah. They're fun to talk to, but I don't like any of them that way,"

"What about that girl you always talk about?"

"Ava? I think she's cute,"

"Do you think you're gay?"

"What! No, never,"

"There's nothing wrong with it,"

"I just think girls look better, that's all,"

"I think you just answered my question. Like I said there's nothing wrong with it. It's better to accept it, and even though you might think it really matters, it doesn't. What matters is if you find someone who loves you just as much as you love them,"

"Sure,"

"So you wanted to watch the Spruce Willis movie?"

 _Present Day_

"This place is givin' me the creeps," said Cassie.

"It's pretty bad," said Jaune.

The village was a horrendous site. Every building was reduced to skeletons with only a few had walls and roofs. Debris was littered throughout the streets. A single bike could be seen destroyed on a curb.

"Do you know why Ren didn't want to come here?" asked Ruby.

"I have a pretty good idea," said Jaune not speaking of the topic any further.

"We should search for supplies,"

"You want to to watch over Qrow?" asked Cassie.

"Yeah, we should have someone there,"

Jaune and Ruby left to see what they could scavenge. "Damn it Qrow. You're such an idiot sometimes, you know that. You had to go and get yourself hurt. You better damn not up and die on me old man,"

Ruby came running back a few minutes later and asked "Is he doing any better?"

"No, but at least he hasn't gotten any worse,"

Jaune came back and stated "I haven't found anything, you?"

"I'm sorry, this is all my fault," said Ruby.

"Ruby…"

"I dragged you all into this, even you Cassie,"

"Come on Ruby, you know that's not true," she retorted.

"Sure, but if Uncle Qrow didn't come to help, then you wouldn't be here,"

"Ruby look, we are here because we want to be. We all wanted to help you, this was our choice. Look we lost Pyrrha, we did too. But that day you asked us to come help you, we did it because you inspired us to want to make a difference. Not just for Pyrrha, but for all of Remnant," he stated.

"He's right you know. You didn't manipulate us in anyway, and no way in Hell do we feel like we were dragged into this. Like Jaune said, we want to help you, and we'll do what you need us to do. And if you want someone to blame for being here, blame us," Cassie said.

"I agree, and I'm sure Ren and Nora would say the same thing," said Jaune.

"Thanks guys,"

"No problem," said Cassie.

"We're here for you Ruby," said Jaune.

Suddenly, a loud roar was heard not far off.

"That sounds pretty close, help me hide Qrow," said Cassie.

Quickly they hid Qrow inside a house off to the side of the road.

Just as they walked outside, they were met by Ren and Nora.

"You guys are okay," said Ren. "Oh no. Not again. Not again,"

"Do you hear that?" asked Jaune

"Ren…" said Nora.

The same roar was heard but it was right behind them.

"Oh shit!" exclaimed Cassie.

"Run, everyone let's go!" demanded Ren.

"No can do Ren, you guys go,"

"NO!" he shouted. "WE MUST LEAVE NOW!"

"Nora take him, I'll hold this piece of shit off," she said.

"Sorry Ren," Nora said knocking him out and scooping him up. "Thank you,"

"Don't thank me yet. Go!" and Nora did as commanded.

"I'm staying," said Ruby.

"Thanks Ruby," Cassie responded.

"Same with me," Jaune said.

"You don't have to you know," said Cassie.

"I know, but I have too. Pyrrha would have wanted me to,"

"Alrighty, see ya on the other side," said Cassie right before she dashed off.

She dashed behind the giant creature ready to slash its neck. As she swung her blade she was hit by a large disk and was thrown to the ground far from her original target.

"Don't worry about me!" she shouted as she saw Ruby run in her direction. "Just keep each other safe."

She began to get up when she saw a feminine figure holding a broadsword and a shield. She was shadowy to say the least. Tall, much taller than Cassie. Just as Cassie got up the figure charged.


	5. The Battle for Kuroyuri

**Chapter 4**

"You're good," said Cassie, dashing away putting on her mask. The enemy did not respond.

"Don't talk much I guess?" she said, parrying a strike and trying to counter, only to be blocked by the shield. Even though Cassie was shorter, she was matching the opponent strike for strike, block for block.

She went for a strike to the side hoping to land a hit, but to no avail. The enemy tried to land a jab aswell, only to get the same result. Another roar was heard as the fight between Ruby and Jaune against the Nuckelavee.

"Shit!" Cassie cursed breaking away from her fight to attack the giant monster just metres away. Her original opponent shrieked in anger before giving chase. As Cassie got closer to the fight she saw that Ruby and Jaune were fighting a losing battle. Ruby had just been knocked away and Jaune was trying his best to block the blows from it's gigantic arms. Jaune had accidentally created an opening to his side which the Grimm was about to take full advantage of if Cassie hadn't stepped in and shoved him to the side to take the hit herself. Cassie's original enemy decided to take on Jaune, and it was clear he was outmatched. Having been flung into the air, Cassie could really do very little. Ruby was just getting up and was about to help Jaune before dodging a devastating attack from the Nuckelavee. Cass knew that she had very few options at her disposal, and most ended in the loss of her and the others. As she reached the peak of her travel she began activating her semblance, the Dragon Soul. She separated her aura into three projected dragons. She allowed her arm's CPU to control two while she subconsciously controlled the third. This had taken years of training, and the ability to offset the separate entities to her arm allowed her much more control. She sent the one she controlled to fight the Nuckelavee and the other two to help Ruby and Jaune.

The first dragon made contact with the Nuckelavee, and fought based off of reaction due to the control being subconscious. The other two dragged Ruby and Jaune to a safer area. Once that was done one remained with the two while the other went back to it's creator who just touched down.

Cassie then re-engaged her original foe with the dragon surrounding her and increasing her strength and speed. This put the enemy on the defensive making landing strikes possible. As she was fighting Cassie made a call through her mask to Winter who conveniently was stationed in Mistral at the time.

"Winter!" Cass practically shouted fending off her opponent.

"Cassandra, what is the meaning of this," Winter replied.

"Need help ASAP,"

"Why?"

"Fighting both a giant horse-riding Grimm, and some humanoid Grimm who's almost kicking my ass. I've been pushed back so far that I had to use my semblance,"

"Cassandra you know how dangerous that is!" Winter checked her scroll. "You're burning through your aura,"

"I can see that," Cassie said while parrying and striking the opponent in the face. "Just got a good hit on the human Grimm,"

"Roger that Cassandra, I am sending reinforcements as of now as well as myself,"

"Roger, Winter,"

"Wait, Cassandra, why are you here in Anima?"

"Little busy if you'd watch the mask cam, but long story short, I'm helping Qrow and Ruby," she stated.

"As in Ruby Rose?" asked Winter.

"Yes," said Cassie through gritted teeth. She blocked the thrown shield and retaliated with a flurry of shuriken, some of which we blocked, but others creating cracks on the black shell of the Grimm.

"Winter do you see that red on the Grimm?" asked Cassie looking at some of the cracks.

"Yes, I do. Why do you ask?"

"Let me do a little more damage," Cassie said before charging into the fight once more, trying to get another hit in. This resulted in a hilt-smash to the face or in her case, mask cracking it.

"Shit!" she cursed before unleashing another barrage of shuriken. Since they were thrown in different manners some were able to slip through the enemy's defense. More cracks appeared, this time some skin-colour was seen around the arms, and white could be seen around the shins.

"You seem to be unveiling the original form of the enemy, keep up the momentum Cassandra," said Winter.

"Yes ma'am," said Cassie as she backed out of the engagement to sheath her Katana and pull out her Tanto.

She went in for a swipe only to be pushed away by the shield. Cassie in turn threw a barrage of shuriken and followed it to gain access to the opening the barrage created. She landed a cut, revealing grey and she blocked the incoming strike with her arm, but she was forced to a kneeling position. Instead of applying more resistive force against the sword, she let it go which surprised the opponent allowing Cassie to roll out from under and launch her arm at the enemy. The arm flew and hit its target directly in the face shattering what remained of the black shroud.

"Oh my Oum," said Cassandra in utter shock.

"It can't be," said Winter.

Behind the shroud was a human with the eyes of a Grimm. She was female, with the whites of her eyes a dark black and the pupils a deep red. Her skin was pale. On her chest was a large scar, right where her heart should be. She wore grey armour reminiscent of the human that it took the form of. She was expressionless, no showing of pain or emotion. Just a cold glance at the enemy.

"You're… You're Pyrrha…" said Cassie.

Suddenly the eyes of the Grimm began flashing. Conflict was etched around its face. Another colour became apparent within the eyes. Green. "Run," she croaked. "I can't control it,"

"What… What happened! You Died!"

"I should have…" said 'Pyrrha' before she went in for another assault.

On the other end of the fight, the dragons, Ruby and Jaune were faring no better. The Nuckelavee was dealing with each opponent with great effectiveness. Ruby had just been tossed away and Jaune was pushing against the other arm to no avail. One dragon was being trampled under the front legs of the horse while the other was battling the head. It was easy to tell that the dragons' creator was not faring so well from the state of her creations.

The roar of a motor was heard approaching Kuroyuri and it was approaching fast. Jaune couldn't hold up against the force of the Grimm and was forced against a nearby wall. The dragon attacking the head quickly disengaged and attacked the legs causing the larger Grimm to lose balance, releasing Jaune.

Ruby rejoined the fight with a hail of large calibre bullets directed at the creature. The Nuckelavee shrugged it off with ease and was about to land another blow on Ruby when a yellow blur intercepted the incoming arm.

"You are in so much trouble," said a very familiar voice.

"Yang!" Ruby shouted as she hugged her sister.

"Hold on lil' sis, we got us a Grimm to beat, oh and I brought Ren and Nora with me,"

"Ren, are you okay?" Ruby asked

"Yes, I realise it was foolish of me to let my emotions get the better of me, for now we must band together to take out this monster," Ren stated.

"Hey where's Cass?" asked Nora.

"Her dragons are helping us, but she's fighting something else, like a human Grimm," Ruby responded.

"Enough talk, let's kick this thing's ass," said Yang as she charged at the Grimm. The others followed. The dragons had managed to free Jaune from the grasp of the Nuckelavee, but were looking extremely worn.

"Hey dragon things?" asked Jaune.

The dragons responded with a look in his direction.

"So you guys can hear me right?" He received a curt nod from the dragons. "Okay, I need you guys to take hold on to that thing's arms, you got that?"

The dragons nodded and proceeded with the task. As the Hunters and Huntresses in training distracted the beast, the dragons each grabbed an arm and forced it into the ground, holding it there with their mass. This allowed for Yang and Nora to pummel the horse into submission.

"Ren, Ruby, cut off its arms!" shouted Jaune. The two followed through with their tasks and the arms were quickly separated from the body. Right after the two dragons disappeared without a trace.

 _Five minutes earlier_

"Oh shit this is bad," said Cassie, battling Pyrrha. "Please stop! I don't want to hurt you!"

"I can't!" said Pyrrha as her eyes flashed to their normal colour. "I'm sorry…"

Cassie purposely put herself on the defensive not wanting to hurt Pyrrha. "Please fight it, I know you can!"

"Run while I have control! Please!" said Pyrrha as her eyes flashed again. Tears could be seen.

"No! I can't just leave you,"

"You don't understand! I'm not human," said Pyrrha between flashes.

"If you're talking to me, you're human enough! You don't want to fight me and I don't want to fight you, so please fight the monster within, so we can both live, because right now, one of us is not going to make it!" said Cassie blocking another strike, refusing to counter.

"Fight back! You're going to get yourself killed!" Pyrrha said.

"If I fight back, we'll both end up hurt!"

Instead of responding Pyrrha roared and shoulder-charged Cassie against a wall. Pyrrha's hand made contact with the titanium plating of Cassie's left arm and her eyes flashed green in shock, knowing what the monster would do now that it had found the material of the arm. Pyrrha kicked off of Cassie using her polarity to tear her left arm off with her, along with her mask.

Cassie screamed in pain. The arm was torn right from the socket. Her body was unharmed, but the pain receptors on her shoulder were burning. She had enough control to get the forearm to launch itself at Pyrrha, but she caught it with the eyes of the monster. The arm began caving in on itself due to Pyrrha's polarity. This destroyed any internal components and any previous function that the arm had, including control of the dragons.

 _Present Time_

The Nuckelavee roared, sending everyone away from it as it tried to recover.

"Alright guys, we dealt with the main threat the creature could throw at us, now all we have to do is stop it once and for all," said Jaune.

"Agreed, now what's the plan," asked Ren

"Heavy hitters, focus the horse, Ruby and I will play distraction. Ren you know what you have to do,"

The group charged again. Following Jaune's plan worked due to the Grimm's weakened state. Nora and Yang were dealing massive damage to the horse, eventually managing to break one of it's rear legs. This allowed Jaune and Ruby to stab their weapons through the Nuckelavee's front legs, sticking it to the ground. Nora and Yang landed a devastating blow to the horse's head causing it to keel over. Ren walked over to the creature, determination in his eyes.

He holstered his weapons and drew a dagger from his boot. He twirled the blade before slashing the Grimm as he thought 'For my mother,' another slash 'For my father,' another slash 'For everyone you have slain,'

Before he beheaded the Grimm he stated firmly "For myself,"

Ren dropped his dagger, the Nora proceeded to hug him. They had very little aura left. The only ones with reasonable amounts were Jaune, due to his large pool of it. And Yang who had just entered the fight. Ruby ran to uncle Qrow who was still alive, and hadn't gotten any worse.

"No noise, good job kiddo. Now go help your friend," he said and she went to find Cassie, Yang and Jaune following her as she reappeared.

All Cassie could do was dodge. She had no method of offense as her sword as far away and her Tanto only worked in extremely close proximity. Suddenly Pyrrha dropped her weapons and kneeled. "This has gone on long enough, I'm fighting as hard as I can right now, but you need to end it,"

"No… NO! I can't, I WON'T!" Cassie shouted.

"You know this is for the best. It's not your fault,"

"There's another way, just come with us, please,"

"I'm barely hanging on as is. I can't keep fighting. Do me this honour," Pyrrha pleaded.

"There is no honour in meaningless death. You can't just give up!"

"CASSIE!" shouted Ruby as she ran onto the scene, Jaune and Yang in tow.

"Pyrrha?!" shouted Jaune in disbelief.

The monster proceeded to take over and grabbed Cassie. She threw her at Yang who could only catch the girl who was thrown. The monster grabber her shield and threw it at Jaune who couldn't react due to his shock. He was quickly dispatched and she focused her attention on Ruby who had little aura remaining and what remained was quickly drained.

"Just stay here, you," Yang said to Cassie before charging between the monster and Ruby. She punched the monster in the gut expecting it to be winded, but it wasn't and the monster responded by draining Yang's aura through strangling. Cassie shoulder charged the monster who let go of Yang.

"Thanks for the save, nonononoo!" was all Yang could say as she saw what was about to happen. The monster had just thrown her sword towards Ruby who had no aura remaining.

 _Three Years ago_

"Cassie eventually in life, you'll meet people who you're willing to put your life on the line for. Sometimes there's a choice and you might have to decide who lives and who doesn't. I know it's depressing, but you're one of the people I'd make sure would live," said Ethan

"Thanks Ethan," said Cassie. "You're the best,"

 _Present Time_

'Guess we'll be seeing each other sooner than we thought' she said before using the last of her aura to dash in front of the incoming blade, taking what was meant for Ruby. Cassie was facing the girl who threw the blade that pierced her heart.

"This isn't your fault," she said before collapsing on the ground.

"Cassie! NO, please no," pleaded Ruby, taking Cassie's hand "Why did you do that?!"

"I had a choice to make and I made it," Cassie replied weakly.

Pyrrha had also collapsed, but the monster had separated from her, and the entity spoke down to her. "Look what you've done," it said. "You just murdered an innocent girl hehehe,"

"I… I didn't mean to…" Pyrrha said.

"Oh really," said the entity. "You loved it, seeing the life slowly leave her eyes, why don't we-"

"Stay away from her!" shouted Jaune, tackling the Grimm.

The Grimm started to laugh hysterically as Jaune punched it. All he could feel was rage as he beat the monster that had taken over Pyrrha. It just laughed.

"You didn't have to do that!" said Ruby.

"I did. I couldn't let you die, and I couldn't let the girl who knew you kill someone she knew. She didn't know me, and you barely know me -Cough- It's better this way," Cassie responded.

"Don't talk like that. You're gonna be fine, just stay," said Ruby. "I can't watch someone else die!"

"Sorry I have to put you through that, Ruby, but I don't think I can hold out," she responded.

"There's gotta be something I can do!" shouted Ruby.

"Just stay with me, I don't wanna die alone,"

Yang saw Cassie's masked and put it on, "Hello! Hello! Anyone there!" she shouted into the mask.

"Who is this, and where is the owner of this mask," responded Winter Schnee.

"I'm Yang Xiao Long, but that doesn't matter right now, we got two hunters down, one poisoned the other bleeding out. We need help NOW!"

"ETA 30 seconds, standby Ms Xiao Long," Winter said before ending the call.

"I don't know if we have thirty seconds…"

"This is my fault, and I'm sorry that I made this happen," cried Ruby.

"It's not your fault Ruby, I did this, I chose to save you," Cassie responded. "I don't want to leave, but it hurts real bad. At least I get to see something pretty before I go,"

Cassie closed her eyes as another wave of pain pulsed within her. She opened her eyes to see a sight that was incredible.

"Wow Ruby, your eyes are really beautiful," she murmured before closing her eyes once more.

 **Well, I'm back! This chapter took me a while to make, mostly due to exams, ugh. Now that that's over I'll be writing more often. If you have any thoughts about the story, feel free to ask in a comment or review, I'll be sure to answer when I get the chance.**

 **I'm writing this story because I saw some flaws within Volume 4, and Volume 3 so I wish to correct those in the only way I can, through my vision. BUT! Any feedback given will be taken into account and it would really help me shape the story. If you see any flaws, let me know so I can fix 'em.**

 **Peace,**

 **-Myrillis**


	6. End of Arc 1

**Well, I'm back! This chapter took me a while to make, mostly due to exams, ugh. Now that that's over I'll be writing more often. If you have any thoughts about the story, feel free to ask in a comment or review, I'll be sure to answer when I get the chance.**

 **I'm writing this story because I saw some flaws within Volume 4, and Volume 3 so I wish to correct those in the only way I can, through my vision. BUT! Any feedback given will be taken into account and it would really help me shape the story. If you see any flaws, let me know so I can fix 'em.**

 **Peace,**

 **-Myrillis**

 **Chapter 5**

"You okay lil' sis," asked Yang.

"I don't know," said Ruby in a depressing manner.

"Hey, it'll be fine. You just gotta hope for the best,"

"This is different Yang, I… This was my fault! If I had been better no one would have been hurt. If I hadn't been so arrogant Uncle Qrow wouldn't have had to save me. If I had been stronger, Cassie…"

"Ruby that girl… She cared enough about you that she took the blow for you. She didn't want to see you hurt. I know why she did it…"

"Why Yang?"

"She believed in you Ruby. She made her choice because she thought you could make the difference you always talk about. And she might have become attached to you,"

"Why would she, I'm nothing. All I've done is get people hurt Yang,"

"Don't say that Ruby! That would be throwing away everything that she and Uncle Qrow just did for you. They want you to keep fighting. They believe in you. I do too. And so does team JNPR. Don't think for a second that we'll ever stop fighting for you! We believe in you, and now you have to believe in yourself,"

"Thanks Yang, but I need to go see her," said Ruby glumly. "I don't know anymore. She's really hurt and might die Yang, because of me,"

"She's also alive because of you," retorted Yang. "Your eyes saved someone Ruby. You saved someone,"

"Okay… I have to see her though,"

"You're right Ruby, but I'm coming too,"

"Sure Yang,"

Ruby and Yang headed to the infirmary of Haven academy, their place of residence for the time being. Qrow had survived his ordeal and was recovering in one of the guest rooms, the same could not be said for everyone who returned.

"You gotta let me see her!" shouted Jaune who was banging on the door of the Atlas outpost.

"Jaune, I don't think now is the time," stated Ren.

"What do you mean! She's back Ren, and she needs her team to be there for her," Jaune retorted.

"That may be true, but we need to be safe. After what just happened… We need to take the safest option above all, and at this point I believe that the best option would be to let Atlas complete their evaluation and to hope for the best," Ren replied.

"Ruby destroyed the thing that was controlling her, can't they see that!" Jaune demanded.

"That may be true, but what about side effects? She almost killed someone Jaune, I hate to say this, but she's not safe right now. We all miss Pyrrha, Jaune, but Cassandra is barely alive due to her actions! She is our friend, and what's best for her is for Atlas to figure out if there's anything else wrong so she won't continue to hurt others," said Ren.

"This wasn't her fault Ren, you have to know that," pleaded Jaune.

"I don't think that Jaune, but it almost killed someone and we need to make sure everyone is safe, even Pyrrha from herself. She feels terrible, if you remember, but that might be bad for her psychological state. Atlas should be able to remedy that, and she needs their help more than she needs ours," stated Ren firmly.

"Thank you for that Mr Ren. Ms Nikos seems to be faring well considering what has just transpired…" Winter Schnee said stepping out of the doorway. "She is showing signs of depression due to what she has done. We understand that she was not in control, but it is of the utmost importance that we make sure there are no traces of the Grimm left behind. I will be sure to let you know when you can see her. Good day." she said shutting the door.

"See Jaune. She will be fine. We will be right there when she is released," said Ren.

"Fine, we should go check on Ruby," said Jaune.

"How is she doing?" asked Ruby.

"Her body we were able to repair, but her aura…" said the doctor.

"What?! What is it?"

"We don't know if it will be able to return Ms Rose, as in we don't know if her soul can recover from the trauma it endured in that fight," said the doctor. "We don't even know if she'll wake up as of now. Her aura is non-existent at this stage, not matter how many aura boosters we've administered,"

"There's a chance right? There's got to be a chance!" cried Ruby.

"There is a chance, yes," replied the doctor.

"What the Hell?! Where am I?" shouted Cassie into nothingness.

"Ah it's good to see that your soul was able to hold itself together Ms Aotatsu," said a voice behind her.

"Whoa who are you, and why are you here?"

"My name is unimportant, what is though is the fact that you've made it to this realm before passing on into the realm of the dead," said the man.

"I'm not dying yet old man, there's no way in Hell!"

"The state of your physical body says otherwise,"

"Shit!" Cass cursed. "Why are you here then, huh?"

"I'm here to help you during your time here, which could be long or short depending on your choices, so please do try to remain civil,"

"How do you expect me to act! I need to go back,"

"Then why did you throw yourself into that blade,"

"There was no time, I made a choice,"

"Hmm,"

"What?"

"You do seem quite determined to return, but what is the point?"

"There's still stuff for me to do,"

"That does seem to be the case,"

"Why are you here? All you've done is be irritating this whole time,"

"Many have said that about me,"

"You know what I'm done with this shit, I'm getting out of here,"

"How do you suppose you'll do that?"

"By beating the shit out of you until you tell me,"

"Good,"

"What?"

"I haven't managed to convince you to come with me, therefore proving that you have the heart and soul of a Huntress. Many weren't given the choice you have now, and many who have refused to return, believing they have done what they could, or they allowed me to sway them,"

"So what do I do now?"

"Goodbye Cassandra Aotatsu,"

"What?!" was all Cass could say before her entire world went black.

"We have a spike in aura activity!" exclaimed the doctor.

"What?!" demanded Ruby.

"Aura boosters NOW!" shouted the doctor. "We need to get those into her system NOW!"

A nurse rushed into the room with the boosters in hand. The doctor quickly grabbed them and injected them into his patient's arm. Her aura began to flash. That was a good sign. That means her aura had reactivated which was vital to her survival.

"Have more boosters on hand, that's all we can do for now," said the doctor.

"If her aura starts to decrease, inject a booster, if it starts to increase inject a booster, got it," he said to a nearby nurse .

"This is good right doctor?" asked Ruby.

"Yes Ms Rose, she has great chance of survival now, all we can do is wait I'm afraid,"

"Okay, is it alright if I stay here?"

"That is perfectly fine, just don't distract the nurses if you wouldn't mind," said the doctor as he left the room.

"Told you Ruby, now it's been awhile since we both ate so I'll bring something up," said Yang.

Even though the signs were promising after over twelve hours, Cassie did not wake. Ruby and Yang stayed for those many hours. Jaune, Ren and Nora popped in delivering food. Jaune was upset, due to the injury of not one but two people, Ren remained stoic, for Nora, and Nora she remained positive, although it was easy to see that it was forced.

It was difficult, seeing someone so badly hurt in person, even if you didn't know them. Ruby knew Cassie best out of all of them, and it wasn't a great feeling to know that the person in front of her lay unconscious for her. Yang felt for Ruby, but for a different reason. She was the person to usually get hurt for another, and because Blake ran away, she could see it was painful for Ruby to see her saviour so badly injured.

Ren knew that Cassandra had taken the blow for Ruby, and he believed the reason behind it to be similar to that of his father, to protect those who cannot protect themselves. His father had done the same for him when Kuroyuri fell. At that moment it was Ruby who was defenseless and that Cassandra was the only one who could have done anything at that given moment. Nora was just upset that someone was hurt so badly. It also pained her to know that it was Pyrrha who did it, even though she was not in control. Nora thought that both girls were hurt badly, just in different ways. Pyrrha was incredibly depressed and felt no self-worth after what she had done. Cass was hurt really badly physically.

Jaune felt terrible. He was the only one who knew it, but he could have done something, but he froze. At that moment her could have blocked the blade with his shield and bought the others time, but he froze. He blamed himself for how Pyrrha felt, and the effect of his inability to act. He swore to himself that he would not let anything affect him like this ever again. Seeing the effects of his inaction first-hand wasn't very pleasant.

Eventually the members of team JNPR left and it was just Ruby, Yang and the unconscious Cassie. Yang knew the only thing she could do was provide support for her little sister. She couldn't magically fix the problem so she was there for Ruby, and she would stay there for Ruby, no matter how long it took. Later on Ruby had grabbed a chair and placed it next to Cassie's bedside.

"I'm so, so, sorry this happened… I know it must be difficult, but please come back. I can't lose anyone else," murmured Ruby.

Yang thought about that statement. She wasn't talking about just death. Blake had run away, Weiss was taken by her father. And up until recently Yang had out right refused to speak to anyone. And also Summer Rose, who died when Ruby was just a little girl. All these things piling up on poor lil' Ruby. Pyrrha had also 'died' in front of Ruby, so there was that too. And now someone lay in front of her who might not come back. Yang felt horrible.

After a couple more hours, Ruby had fallen asleep in the chair. Yang watched over her little sister 'Like I should have from the beginning,' thought Yang.

Pain.

Pain was the only thing that Cassie could feel.

She knew she would have to keep going. She couldn't give up now. Pain was just a feeling and if pain was what brought her back, she would endure it.

She gasped.

She opened her eyes for what felt like the first time in 10 years. She was panting breathing in the first breaths that she could breathe consciously, and it felt great.

She began to sit up, and she saw that two people were in the room she was in. Ruby was off to her side asleep, nuzzled against Cassie's right hand, and the other a tall blonde with flowing blonde hair, the one she freed from the strangle hold.

"You woke up! You don't know how great this is," said the blonde.

"I feel like shit, but it feels great to be awake," Cassie rasped, barely finder her voice.

"I know this sounds stupid, but I never caught your name," said the blonde

"Call me Cassie. And yours?"

"Yang Xiao-Long, a pleasure to meet the person who saved my little sister,"

"Nice to meet you too Yang. So, could you grab me some water, my throat's killer,"

"No problem," said Yang as she grabbed an unopened bottle by Cassie's bed side.

"Thanks," said Cassie before trying to grab the bottle with her left arm as her right was under Ruby, until she realised she didn't have a left arm at the moment.

"Oh, that sucks,"

"Here, let me," said Yang who opened the bottle and put a straw in it.

"Thanks Yang," Cassie said gratefully. "You have no idea how good that feels,"

"You sound better already,"

"Thanks, so why were you waiting here?"

"Gee, I wonder why, I don't know? Maybe it's 'cause you almost died helping not just me, but my sister. I'm grateful for that really, but why go risking your life like that,"

"Had to buy time. You were hurt and were still catching your breath, Ruby was hurt too and I think Jaune was hurt too. I was the only one who could do anything at that moment and I chose. You might not see why, but I think I made the right choice, even if I didn't make it,"

"No I do Cass," responded Yang, "See, this," she said rolling up the sleeve of her coat to reveal a mechanical right arm, I lost this protecting a friend. I don't regret it whatsoever. Ruby might be upset that you almost died for her, but I think we feel the same about both our situations. Adam Taurus was the one who did this to me, the one who hurt my partner. Next time I see him, he's as good as dead,"

"That's funny because Taurus was the one who took my arm too,"

"What, you can't be serious?!"

"I lost my arm three years ago, I lost a friend with it too…" she said, "But I can see that you don't really want to kill him. You hate him, just like me. I could never bring myself to kill someone because that someone might be loved by someone else and I don't want anyone else to deal with the pain of someone they loved being killed. It's terrible, that's why I can't do it, nor will I let anyone do the same,"

"Then why did you throw your life away? You were practically dead, you were really lucky that Ruby's eyes saved you when they did,"

"I know I'm really lucky, but my life is worth very little,"

"Don't say that,"

"You all have people that love you, who couldn't bear to see you die. I don't,"

"You've gotta, there has to be someone,"

"I lost that someone the day I lost my arm," Cassie stated bitterly.

Out of nowhere Qrow walked into the room. "Hey dumbass," he greeted

"Hey birdie,"

"I told you to stop calling me that," he said.

"You did, I just never listened,"

"Well I came here two things: One thanks, for saving Ruby. Two, are you mental?! You could have gotten killed!"

"You almost got killed doing the same thing,"

"You knew full well what should've happened,"

"I did, and I think I made the right choice either way,"

"That doesn't mean you should throw yourself at any incoming threat!"

"You're right…"

"Of course I am. Listen I'm sorry that I, ya know. If I hadn't gotten hurt, no one would've gotten hurt,"

"It's not your fault, we never would've thought about how any of this could've happened. I don't blame anyone, not even Pyrrha,"

"Good on ya kid," replied Qrow, "Well I'm gonna go, and let in a few people who want to see you,"

"Do you know who they are?"

"You'll see," said Qrow as he left the room.

Three new people entered the room.

"Hey Cass do you know who they are?" asked Yang.

"Yep," she responded.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW STUPID THAT WAS?!" said one of the three women who entered the room. She was clad in lavender.

"H- Hey Maya," said Cassie nervously.

"She's right numbskull," said another woman, wearing a dark purple.

"H-Hey Opal,"

"It would be wise not to do anything else of this sort again," said a woman wearing red.

"Yes Angela…" responded Cassie.

"They care about you," said Yang.

"She's right, Cassandra. Look, I know we haven't been there for you after what happened with Ethan, but after you left for Atlas, all of us were pretty broken. Losing a member of our team was terrible, but I can't imagine how it felt for you. That's all behind us now though, we'll be here for you if you ever need us. Team Lavender is as strong as it can be right now, and we will be there," said Maya

"I can help you with some upgrades to your new arm for starters. I'm already working on replacing the original titanium with carbo-tanium. It's much lighter than titanium so that should help with combat, and it's practically as strong as it too. And you, Sandy get to be the first to test out the new and improved Opal dust that I've been working on!" said Opal.

"That didn't end so well last time…" reminded Cassie.

"No comment. Buut, it's literally perfected as of now," replied Opal

"I'll be sure to test it out,"

"You are really hurt, Cassandra," interjected Angela. "I have already come up the faults and limitations caused by your condition,"

"Well, me and Opal are gonna step out. You girls have fun!" said Maya dragging Opal out of the room.

"They hate the nitty gritty of injuries and always prefer to leave the room when I formulate a diagnosis. Now-" said Angela before the door was slammed waking up Ruby.

"Cookies!" exclaimed Ruby, "Cassie, you're awake!"

"Of course I am," Cassie responded, "Well now that you're awake, Angel can you please tell me what's wrong with me,"

"Cassandra, you must understand that your condition is not well, but it will recover given time, please do not let my diagnosis stop you from pursuing the future as this is only temporary,"

"What are you talking about?" asked Cassie.

"I'll start with the Goliath in the room. You will not be able to walk upwards of one month," said Angela.

"Oh shit, I'm useless now aren't I?" said Cassie

"Let me finish, within one week, you will be able to walk with assistance, until then I recommend a wheelchair. Your did not return for the span of about a day. Once it does fully recover however, you should be back to full physical capabilities,"

"There's gotta be a faster way. Bad shit's happening right now, and I can't afford to be so weak,"

"You can't afford to weaken yourself further," said Angela.

"Look, I'm just gonna get up and walk out of here, sound good?"

"I don't recommend it but I won't stop you,"

"This should be easy," said Cass pulling her legs off the bed.

"You're sure about this?" asked Yang, seeing how the injury didn't seem to be affecting Cassie.

"I gotta try," said Cassie before stepping onto the ground, or attempting to. As soon as pressure was placed on her feet she fell over almost immediately, only to be caught by Ruby before she hit the ground.

"Shit!" cursed Cassie as Ruby helped her sit on a nearby chair. "Thanks Ruby. Hey why haven't you said anything?"

"I'm so so sorry. You're hurt and it's because of me. NO!" said Ruby as Cassie tried to assure her it wasn't.

"I know what you're gonna say, but because I wasn't strong enough you had to step in, and so did Uncle Qrow. I should have been stronger, so that no one else had to get hurt. None of this was supposed to happen!" stated Ruby.

"So what it wasn't supposed to happen. Stuff happens for a reason, you're okay aren't you. I will be okay… eventually, but still none of this is your fault. I chose to step in Ruby, because I wanted too. Yang would've done the same, right?" Yang nodded in affirmation. "See you were put in that position because you chose to look for me. If you didn't I might've been dead long before this. You probably don't agree with me, but just know I do not blame you whatsoever for what happened, okay,"

"Now that that's out of the way," interjected Angela, "To finish off my diagnosis, you will have a permanent scar on your front and back, and your heart is weakened for the time being, nothing that won't be fixed when your aura fully returns."

"Thanks Angel,"

"It was no problem, now Ruby, I suggest you go find a wheelchair for Cassandra and that you help her to the cafeteria so that she may eat, she does need it. Until we meet again," said Angela before departing.

"Told ya, she didn't blame you~," said Yang said to Ruby.

"You were right, but that doesn't mean I don't blame myself," said Ruby.

"Then I guess I'll have to fix that," said Cassie.

"I don't think that's gonna work, look I'm just gonna get the wheelchair," said Ruby before she left the room.

"She'll come 'round eventually," said Yang, "Although I do appreciate the sentiment,"

"Thanks," responded Cassie.

"I should be thanking you though, but I don't think you'll see any reason for it. You seem to care at least a little about Ruby. Mind telling me why?" asked Yang

"She helped me when I needed it, and I really needed it, even though I didn't know at the time. I opened up to her,"

"So?" said Yang.

"I don't open up to people! I don't know why, but I opened up to her and she stayed. I intend to help her with whatever happens next. I know it may be selfish, but I don't want to lose that connection. I don't talk to very many people, Hell you're one of the few, but I've never talked to anyone the way I've talked to you and Ruby. That's why I'm thanking you. For connecting with me,"

"Wow. I know that you've had a deeper conversation with Ruby, but listen. I'll be here for you from now on. Not just because I feel I owe you anything, but because you just have that spark. You helped two complete strangers without second thought. You almost gave your life, and if that's not a show of a great person, I don't know what is," said Yang.

"I guess we'll just end up continuously thanking each other at this rate," said Cassie.

"You got that right," said Yang.

"Hey, I got the wheelchair," said Ruby entering the room.

"Up ya get," said Yang hoisting Cassie over her shoulder.

"Whoa! Put me down! Yang!" shouted Cassie.

"As you wish," said Yang plopping Cassie down onto a wheelchair. "Ruby, can you help Cassie over to the cafeteria? I'd do it myself but I'm actually really tired since, I stayed awake while you slept,"

"Sure thing. Let's go Cassie. Hey Yang what time is it?" asked Ruby.

"It's ten, so you should have time to get there and you shouldn't have any trouble getting food, g'night," said Yang leaving for the dorm room they were given.

"So food?" asked Cassie.

Ruby and Cassie made their way to the cafeteria. They made some small talk, but Cassie, saw that Ruby was acting pretty glum. They got their food and Ruby rolled Cassie over to a table where she sat and began to eat.

"Hey Ruby, what's got you looking so down?" asked Cassie.

"You…"

"Well whatever I did, I'm sorry, but would you mind telling me what?"

"It's not what you did, but what happened to you. I got you hurt,"

"You didn't get me hurt, I got hurt to protect you, and I would happily do it again,"

"But I don't want people getting hurt for me! Don't you see!"

"I do see Ruby, how do you think I felt when Ethan did the same for me? It was the worst feeling ever. I felt as though it was my fault that I got hurt, that I could have been stronger and none of it would have happened, but after some thought and one person in particular, I realized that if I kept blaming myself, I would be doing that person a disservice, I would be regretting their actions. That's when I stopped blaming myself, and began training to get stronger, in order to make sure that no one would have to do that for me. I'd rather be the one hurt, because I don't want to be alone, but I realize why someone would do it. So please, Ruby, don't blame yourself, because when you do, it hurts me when you do," said Cassie

"I didn't mean to Cassie, I'm sorry,"

"It's fine. I know you didn't mean it, so I'm sorry for dumping so much on you,"

"How can you forgive me so easily, I was expecting you to be mad?" asked Ruby.

"It's because I don't see anything to really be mad about. You apologised, and I believed and accepted it. I don't need any sugar coating or incentives to accept a sincere apology," said Ruby.

"Thanks Cassie," said Ruby hugging Cassie, to which Cassie reciprocated.

As they let each other go, Cassie checked her scroll which had just received a notification:

-Your arm is ready to go, should I send it to your location- OPAL

-Sure- CASS

"Who was that?" asked Ruby.

"Opal, she's sending my arm as we speak,"

"Cool," replied Ruby.

"I see a little rose without her big sister," said a new male voice.

Ruby turned around to see a familiar, but not comforting face. "Cardin?"

"That's right. Why you hanging out with this disabled kid, huh? She seems pretty useless,"

"Listen here asswipe, you may be big, but I could probably kick your ass with one arm," said Cassie.

"Please, go on try it," said Cardin lifting Cassie out of the wheelchair.

"Ruby duck," said Cassie before Ruby could do anything

"Why?"

"Just do it,"

Ruby did duck, advice that Cardin did not heed. This led him to take a punishing blow to his gut from a projectile. causing him to double over and fall dropping Cassie.

"Good to know Opal's always on time," said Cassie as the projectile, or her left forearm came nearby. "Hey, arm when's the shoulder coming?"

"ETA 30 seconds," it stated.

"Told him I could kick his ass with one arm, right Ruby?" asked Cassie.

"That was AWESOME! He totally wasn't expecting that and it got him pretty good,"

"Hey Ruby, the rest of my arm should be here like, now so could you help me put it on?"

"Sure thing,"

As usual, the reattachment of the arm was incredibly painful leaving Cassie on the brink of tears, but she held strong. That was until Cardin got up and threw Ruby accross the room.

"Playtime's over bitch," he said grabbing Cassie by the throat quite easily due to her weakened state.

Cassie couldn't breathe and was barely staying conscious. Turns out less oxygen to the brain means less control of the arm, that was until it took control of itself.

"User is in danger: Activating protective measures," it stated before ejecting from its master, flying a good distance away. It readied itself, generating a spiral of dust blades around itself. The forearm began to spin before it suddenly launched itself towards Cardin's arm almost breaking it, forcing him to release the arm's master.

Before Cardin could get up, he found a blade pointed towards his throat.

"Don't even think about it Cardin," said the owner of the blade.

"Jauney-boy?" said Cardin.

"Don't call me that asshole. And what the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Jaune shouted.

"Don't blame me, I'm trying to save Rose the trouble of dealing with this degenerate," he defended.

Jaune was about to swing when two voices said "Don't bother,"

One was Cassie, but the other was someone new. A glyph appeared around Jaune's wrist for insurance. "Leave," said the newcomer to which Cardin complied.

A glyph appeared below Cassie and lifted her back onto her wheelchair. "You seem, familiar," said the glyphs' owner and it was none other than Weiss Schnee.


	7. Interlude 1 Road of Recovery

**Chapter 6: Interlude 1**

"Ms Schnee?" asked Cassie, "What are you doing here?"

"I could be asking you the same question?" Wiess responded. "Weren't you on the Schnee estate a little while ago?"

"Yes I was, then new mission parameters arose, and at that point one outweighed the other," responded Cassie.

"You're the bodyguard that was with my father!" exclaimed Wiess.

"I was, then I was assigned to you, then I was assigned to Qrow and Ruby, and now that you're here, I guess that you're my charge, although I wouldn't have left you if I though you weren't capable enough, Ironwood showed me some footage, then I made a decision, I think I made the right one," said Cassie.

"How did you manage to get here so quickly? I only stopped seeing you about a weeks ago,"

"Hate to say this, but your father's security is crap, easy to bypass actually, even easier to get on one of the Schnee dust carriers heading to Mistral," responded Cassie, "Also, those two over there are quite easy to track," said Cassie pointing at Ruby and Jaune.

Both Ruby and Jaune laughed nervously. "Heya Wiess, how ya been?" asked Ruby

"Well enough I suppose, can't be doing any worse than you seeing the injuries sustained by one of your members, and if you don't mind me asking what did happen?" asked Wiess.

Ruby paled slightly and Jaune looked down. "Guess it's up to me to explain I guess," said Cassie.

"To summarize the events, I took a strike meant for Ruby, and I got injured in the process. Everyone else is in good condition," said Cassie.

"What are the extent of your jj

"Yes Ms. Schnee," answered Cassie.

"So you go and save my best friend, before that protecting my life, and I don't even know your name. Hell I know nothing about you, could you at least tell me your name?"

"Cassandra Aotatsu, ma'am," responded Cassie.

"Why so formal?" asked Wiess.

"You are my superior, as stated by your sister, who is as of now my commanding officer. I intend to respect her wishes," said Cassie.

"Well then, as your superior, I ask you to stop with the formalities. It makes me feel old, and reminds me of how I treated the help before,"

"Okay then Ms…. Wiess," responded Cassie.

"Thank you," said Wiess.

"So how come you're here Wiess?" asked Ruby.

"I had to escape my father, and please don't ask why," responded Wiess.

"No problem," said Ruby.

"So Wiess, what're you gonna do now that you're here?" asked Jaune.

"I had no plans, but since you guys are here, I'll help you," said Wiess.

"Aww Yeah! We're two steps closer to reuniting team RWBY!" shouted Ruby.

"What do you mean?" said Wiess.

"Yang's here too!" said Ruby.

"Nice, so Ruby what is the next course of action?" asked Wiess.

"Our next step, is to get more info on Cinder and her people, they seem to have a hand everywhere," said Ruby, "Problem is we have two people out of commission as well as a target on our backs, so we gotta watch our backs."

"Of course we do," said Wiess, "Why did I expect anything different?"

"Well I think today was pretty eventful, we found Wiess, Cassie woke up and kicked Cardin's butt. And that is why I say we should call it a day, so Wiess where are you gonna bunk?" asked Ruby.

"I have a place with Winter for now. She's letting me stay at the Atlas outpost,"

"Cool, well we've all had a long day, wanna walk with us to the dorms?" asked Ruby.

"It is on the way, so I suppose I could," replied Wiess.

"Cool, maybe we can tell you about some of the awesome stuff we did on the way here," said Ruby excitedly.

"So, did the doc specify where I'll be staying?" asked Cassie.

"Oh, you're with me and Yang, since team JNPR is taking another guest dorm," replied Ruby.

"Wanna get going?" asked Jaune.

"Sure," replied the girls.

They made their way to the dorms, Ruby pushing Cassie along as they all engaged in small talk, mainly about the funny side of what happened over their excursion. Ruby made sure to tell Wiess about Jaune's Pumpkin Pete hoodie, to which he tried to deny, but his face gave it away.

Soon enough they made it to the rooms so Ruby and Cassie, wished Wiess and Jaune goodbye ad entered the shared room. As they entered they were greeted to the sight of Yang sprawled out on a bed, clad only in an oversized t-shirt and her underwear. 'Of course' thought Ruby, 'Only Yang would go to bed like that.'

"Hey Ruby, Winter left us some clothes to wear for tonight, although I don't think any of them are your colour," said Cassie.

"That's fine, I just wanna get out of these dirty clothes," replied Ruby.

"Same, hey could put a chair in the shower so I can wash myself?" asked Cassie.

"Sure thing," said Ruby and she did what was asked.

After Ruby completed her task, Cassie transferred herself to the chair in the shower and using her left arm managed to wash herself, not without difficulty. In the end, she felt she did a satisfactory job. After about a half-hour she managed to put her clothes on and pull herself into the wheelchair. She called Ruby so that she could take her shower, but before taking her own shower Ruby pushed Cassie over to a bed.

"Thanks Ruby, you didn't have to," said Cassie.

"It's fine Cassie, I'm just glad I could help," said Ruby before hopping into the bathroom and proceeding to take her shower, during which Cassie pulled herself into the bed to tired to even lift up the blankets due to her newfound weakness. She ended up just sitting against the headboard thinking to herself.

'I hate this,' thought Cassie, 'I'm basically useless. Even Ruby thinks that. Damn. I can't do anything on my own right now, and even though it's temporary, I still feel like shit. What is wrong with me. There are so many people worse off than me, and all I can do is mope. It's disgusting! Moping won't get me anywhere, but my mind won't let me stop. Come on girl, get your shit together!'

As she finished her thought, Ruby exited the bathroom and walked over to Cassie, with a confused look on her face.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing, it's fine Ruby," Cassie responded.

"It's pretty obvious something's upsetting you, you know. I'm here for you, ok," said Ruby sitting on the bed next to Cassie..

"Why are you here for me, I'm just dragging down the group Ruby! I'm no help right know and I'm not needed," responded Cassie.

"No you're not. Just because you're hurt doesn't mean you're dragging us down. We're all beat up right now, you just got it worse than the rest of us, but that doesn't mean you're useless. If that's the case, then Yang was useless for months, I know that she was in a bad place, but with the way you're acting its basically the same. Needing time to rest doesn't make you useless, overworking yourself and burning out is worse,"

"But-"

"Nope, I know you're gonna try and argue, but I'm not gonna let you. I'm going to ask you a question: When are you planning to start physio?" Ruby asked.

"As soon as possible," responded Cassie.

"See, you already have a plan and are ready to act on it. You would be a dead weight if you were just planning on moping, but I can tell you want to get better, you just feel bad now. And you're not letting that stop you. Even though you feel terrible, you want to get better, you're not giving up. That's not what happened to Yang when she lost her arm, believe it or not,"

"What? I thought she would've bounced back," responded Cassie.

"No. She basically gave up. I don't know what Dad did to get her back on her feet, but I'm grateful for that,"

"I'm sorry Ruby, my emotions are just out of control right now. Now you have to take care of me. I just feel, really crappy right now," said Cassie.

"And you're allowed to feel that way. You got really hurt, almost died and on top of that, the recovery is gonna take time, that's not a fun situation for anyone to be in, but all I ask you to do is stay strong and don't let this injury get in the way. Can you promise me that?" asked Ruby.

"I think I can do that," responded Cassie.

"That's not good enough, and you know it," stated Ruby.

"I promise, Ruby," said Cassie.

"Good, now let's get some shut-eye," said Ruby.

"Oh, look at the two sleepyheads, seems as though Ruby has matured over the time she's been gone," said Yang.

"She seems to be providing comfort to Cassandra, after what happened comfort is something she needs," said Wiess.

"She did a Hell of a lot for the two of us right when I first met her, which was actually during that same fight,"

"Really?" asked Wiess.

"Yep. She had was fighting a losing battle, and I think her aura was depleted then suddenly she was thrown right at me almost knocking me over, luckily I managed to catch her and not topple over. So I set her down, and the enemy… sorry Wiess, not allowed to tell you what… but it was obliterating us, and I tired to step in and it proceeded to kick my ass. It got me in a chokehold which was burning through my aura super quickly. Then Cass over there shoulder charges it which saves my ass, but Ruby was about to be…. You know the rest," said Yang.

"Actually I don't know. All I got was out of Cassandra herself, and it seemed that Ruby and Jaune didn't want to say anything, so she gave me the gist," replied Wiess.

"I guess they'll tell you when they're ready. It wasn't a fun experience Wiess. Ruby was crying pretty much the entire way to Mistral, saying how it was her fault. I tried to tell her it wasn't. I comforted her as best I could, but I guess she had to hear it from Cassie herself," said Yang.

"I guess that Blake needs to hear the same from you," said Wiess.

"What are you saying Wiess?" ask Yang.

"She's probably feeling survivor's guilt. She thinks you got hurt because of her, not for her, Yang. She's feeling what Ruby's feeling, the difference being Cassandra is here, but you're not with Blake. I thought you would know this by now. Ruby told you how she felt, I thought you would have put two and two together," said Wiess.

"Shit…. How could I have been so dense. Here I am blaming her for running away, meanwhile my sister is feeling the exact same thing, yet I still didn't see it, UGH!"

"Well I don't think you realize why you didn't see it. You come from the other side of the spectrum, the one who got hurt, not the one who has to see you in pain. You and I both have never seen that, and I hope we never have to," replied Wiess.

"You know, you're really not that cold Ice Queen," said Yang.

"I thought you'd forgotten that nickname," grumbled Wiess.

"Fat chance," teased Yang, "It's funny, I've always seen Ruby as just my little sister, now here she is, doing what I'd do for her, its actually kinda cute."

"I do admit, it is nice to see that Ruby has matured," responded Wiess.

"I'm taking a picture of this," said Yang.

"Yang," said Wiess.

"You're not stopping me," said Yang.

"I never said I was going to, I have no involvement," replied Wiess.

*Click*

"Let's leave before they get up," said Wiess walking out of the room.

"Sure thing," said Yang following her.

Cassie yawned, as she began to open her eyes. She felt as though she had a good night, but she had no idea where she was. She felt a warmth beside her, specifically to her right. She glanced upwards to see Ruby's face looking peaceful in her sleep. She guessed that Ruby ended up staying with her through the night after her little outburst of sadness. She was surprised that Ruby ended up staying as only one person was ever willing to do the same for her.

Ruby ended up breaking her train of thought by waking up. "Oh, hey Cassie! Good morning,"

"Morning yourself," responded Cassie.

"You feeling any better Cass?" asked Ruby.

"Actually yeah, thanks Ruby," she responded.

"No problem. You wanna get some food?"

"Sure, can you help me over to the washroom so I can wash up a little?" Cassie answered with a question.

"Sure," said Ruby helping Cassie into the wheelchair and rolling her over to the washroom, "I'll be outside."

"Thanks," said Cassie as Ruby left the room. 'Damn, this is gonna be tough,' she thought as she began to take off her clothes when suddenly she felt a sharp pain on her back, or rather pain flaring through the multitude of scars on her back.

She was trying to hide the pain, but eventually she cried out in anguish and pain. She covered her mouth before too much sound escaped, but Ruby managed to hear and barged in.

"Oh my Oum,"


	8. Interlude 2 Scars of the Past (Part 1)

**Chapter 7: Interlude 2 / Scars of the Past (Part 1)**

"How… No, who, why did this happen to you?" asked Ruby, "I know they're not new, but who would do such a thing. It's despicable."

"It's nothing," said Cassie.

"Can you just admit you're hurting. Please, Cassie. It's clear as day that those scars are killing you 'cause you keep grabbing and scratching at them. Just let me help you,"

"You're not running?" asked Cassie.

"Why would I run?"

"Look at me Ruby. I'm covered in scars that will never heal. I look like a freak of nature. You should be scared, the only people who've ever seen these apart from doctors ran like there was no tomorrow, and I don't blame them. I blame myself, for looking this way," cried out Cassie.

"Just because you're scarred doesn't mean you're a freak Cassie. Your scars are part of who you are, even though I don't know where they're from, it doesn't change anything. I said I'd be there for you, so that's what I'm gonna do," said Ruby hugging Cassie from behind.

"Um Ruby?" asked Cassie

"Don't know if this is a good time to mention this, but I'm kinda not wearing a shirt," said Cassie blushing furiously.

"Sorry!"

"Can you just pass me a shirt?" asked Cassie.

"Here," said Ruby, looking away.

"Thanks, now I guess you wanna hear about how I got these?"

"You don't have to, but you need to at least stop trying to be tough and acting like the pain's not there. You're hurt, so it's gonna be that way for a while whether you like it or not. I wasn't there for Yang when she got hurt, but I will be here for you, whether you like it or not as well,"

"Fine, but I do have to tell you what happened. If I can't get over it then what good am I harbouring these emotions, and it'll hurt me in the long run anyways. Before I do say anything though, I do have a question for you," said Cassie.

"Which is?" questioned Ruby.

"You're not gonna leave me are you?" asked Cassie.

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Because you stayed with me when we both thought I wasn't gonna make it. I was really scared then, I'm still scared now. I just needed to know if you'll stay even now. I must seem so weak and selfish now. I'm sorry Ruby. I've become such a burden,"

"I told you to stop saying that. This. This is temporary, before you know it you'll be good as new," replied Ruby.

"I can only hope. Now what I'm going to say is really painful for me to think about, but you deserve to know Ruby. You've stood by me this far, so here goes nothing," said Cassie.

Cassie faced Ruby and lifted up the bottom of her shirt to reveal some scars running along her torso. "These were from the day I lost almost everything. Three years ago. Seems so long ago, I'm getting off track."

"So the loss of my arm and the scars that I'm showing you are from the same person, Adam Taurus. It started on a simple day. Me and Ethan were heading out an a train to downtown Atlas so I could enter the fighting school, although my training was so far, quite superior to that of a fighting school. Apparently the train we were on also carried a Schnee with it. He was the Fang's goal as of then."

"We were about halfway to Atlas when the train screeched to a halt…"

 _3 Years ago_

"Holy crap! The train got here pretty quick didn't it," said Ethan waking up from the sudden stop.

"Um Ethan, I don't think this is Atlas. This looks like nowhere to me," responded Cassie.

He looked out the window and saw that they were on a bridge over a lake.

"Oh, I guess we're not there yet," he stated.

"No really," Cassie retorted.

"Let's go see what's going on," said Ethan getting up only for an the window next to him break and from it a White Fang grunt slammed into Ethan with the intent to down him, which he failed. Ethan, who stood at 7 foot, took the blow with ease causing the grunt to fall out the way he came.

"Guess that answers my question," he stated grabbing his weapon from the luggage compartment above. He tossed Cassie's over to her.

"I guess there's something important that managed to bring the Fang here," she said.

"Or someone, apparently there's a Schnee on this train," responded Ethan.

"Aren't we lucky,"

The duo began making there way to the first-class cars, since that would be where the Schnee would be. Ethan pulled out his scroll and sent out a hunter/army alert out to all nearby hunters and Atlas operatives. As they got closer they were met by more resistance, which were dispatched easily due to the sheer power of two hunters.

Eventually they came face to face with two enemies, one a large unknown Faunus with a large chainsaw, the an unknown female Faunus with a short katana.

"Cass, I'll big man over there, you can handle sword girl," said Ethan grabbing his giant axe.

"Will do," said Cassie engaging her opponent.

They clashed with light opposing strikes hoping to gauge each other, but both were to experienced to start off going all out. They continued parrying each other's strikes, not wanting to waste stamina for later engagements they both knew were coming. What threw the Faunus off was the quick dash Cassie made to the side leaving the Faunus open for attack. The opportunity was taken and Cassie landed the first hit. A quick slash met the Faunus's aura.

The Faunus grunted as Cassie backed off into a more defensive position, not wanting to commit so early in the fight, many a times she had lost to Ethan due to over-committing. The enemy then removed the sheath of her weapon which appeared to be a viable weapon as well. The Faunus dashed forwards quickly meeting Cassie's sword with her dual weapons.

Cassie knew that that was one of the only attacks viable with two similar length swords as the rest would be single attacks chained with each other in order to prevent crossing of the two blades. This generally meant that the enemy's attacks would be less powerful, but in more succession. Fighting defensively seemed to be the best. The Faunus backed off only to return with a flurry of attacks, most of which were blocked, except for one which was parried allowing both girls an opening, both of which took, but both blows glanced off the other's aura.

Cassie was a very technical fighter, but the hit that was just landed was because of her not paying as much attention as she should, this was no sparring match. Cassie decided to be the aggressor in the next engagement, putting her enemy on the defensive, which threw off the opponent's previous momentum. Launching a succession of light attacks, Cassie saw an opening in the Faunus's guard and instead of attacking, went for a shoulder bash that stunned the opponent long enough for Cassie to land a heavy attack sending the opponent flying to the other side of the train car.

Cassie saw a line of black whiz past her face, which she turned to look at, returning her gaze she was met with a boot to the face sending her flying instead. She hit the wall pretty hard but she recovered in time to block the incoming attacks. She struck her opponent when she thought her guard was broken only for her to dissipate in front of her. She took a heavy strike from behind her which she couldn't block.

She took the hit and dashed forward, knowing that the opponent was beginning to play her cards. Cassie knew she had to end the fight soon otherwise the Schnee was as good as dead. Cassie knew the opponent was more agile with the addition of the clones that would mess up her rhythm, so she played her trump card.

Cassie activated her semblance, only unleashing one dragon to boost her strength speed as that was all that was needed. The opponent wasn't expecting Cassie's light attacks to be so hard-hitting but they were and they tore through her aura with no trouble at all. Cassie knew this fight was over as soon as her opponent's aura broke.

Cassie sent her opponent sprawling to the floor a little bruised, but no major injuries. The Faunus's weapons landed near Cassie. The Faunus closed her eyes in acceptance thinking that this was her end. "Take my weapon, and do it quick," she said.

Cassie did pick up the weapon, but instead of killing the Faunus, she tied her opponents arms behind her back removing the blade from the handle and unloading the magazine.

"You're not killing me?" said the Faunus.

"That's what you thought I was gonna do? Hold up. ETHAN, YOU GOOD?" Cassie shouted.

"Yeah. Go on ahead, I'll be fine," he responded not sounding tired at all, more so like he was enjoying himself for once not being beaten by Cassie.

"Look, I don't want to kill you, and wouldn't anyways. Just because you lost doesn't mean I'm gonna hurt you, it's not right to hit an opponent when they're down. This way you get to live another day. I just hope you would've done the same for me. Good luck out there," said Cassie leaving the Faunus a lot to think about.

Cassie began making continued on her way to the first-class car defeating resistance as it came. Somehow she made it just in time as the guards seemed to have just fallen. She burst into the first-class car seeing the guards within being annihilated by one Faunus. She saw the Schnee cowering in a corner shielding his eyes from the fight

This Faunus towered over her in height with bright red hair and bull horns within it. Just as he was about to execute the soldiers, Cassie stepped in stopping his sword before it could deliver any fatal blows.

"Easy there, don't do anything you'll regret," said Cassie.

"Who says I'll regret killing them," he responded, his strength beginning to overpower hers. She began moving away from the soldiers, directing his blade towards herself rather than the defenseless who lay beneath her.

She pushed against his sword which ended their first clash, she was slowly backing away from the soldiers, and the bull Faunus obliged ready to take on a stronger opponent. As they walked into a car with more space they were able to maneuver much more. They started the fight the same way that she had previously, light attacks to gauge the opponent. She could tell that he was stronger physically by a large margin, but she was more agile than him, also faster, coupled with her dashes she could escape most holds that he might try.

This was a battle of attrition, both parties opting out of using ranged weapons, choosing to let their blades do the talking. For every two strike Cassie landed, the bull landed one, but just as powerful as her two. 'At least we're trading' thought Cassie.

"They continued their battle neither letting up. Suddenly the bull backed off and sheathed his sword. His hair began to glow, and he slashed from his sheath. It unleashed an arc of energy towards Cassie, and she did the only thing she thought could work, activating a part of her semblance, and reflecting the attack at on odd angle tearing off the roof of the car, not before the tail clipped the Faunus's mask, breaking it and scarring him with his own attack.

"You'll pay for that!" he shouted charging in for an attack.

She didn't think it would be so powerful, but she did succeed in one thing, riling up his temper. His attacks were definitely more powerful, but he became sloppy intent on only hitting her because of his rage. This allowed for Cassie to chip away at his aura, while not getting hit herself. She was gaining an advantage as the fight progressed landing blow after blow, enraging him more.

But something completely unexpected happened. A large bullet flew through the exposed roof and blasted right in her left shoulder joint, breaking her aura instantly, shattering the joint, making her left arm useless. The bull took that opportunity and sliced her arm clean off. She screamed in pure agony.

He grabbed her head and slammed her into the ground, grabbing her weapon and stabbing it through her remaining hand and the floor. She couldn't do anything. She was truly scared. There was no escape.

He laughed. The bull paced around her, tutting. "You're weak," he said, "I guess I'll have some fun before killing the Schnee."

He unsheathed his blade and ran his blade across her abdomen. It hurt like hell, even the adrenaline in her system couldn't mask the pain she was experiencing. He continued, making sure to go slowly to cause her as much pain as possible. She was crying now, all she could do was cry and scream. He left two more cuts before saying, "I guess I should end this now. Rot in Hell human."

 **Look, I actually posted again lol. So it's actually pretty cool to see this story's been seen about 2000 times over the past 3 months, and I think that's pretty cool. Thank you all for that seriously.**

 **But if any of you wouldn't mind dropping criticism that would be great, thoughts, ideas typos and crap, anything really. I'm kinda new to this but so far the numbers look pretty good in my eyes. I guess I just want more engagement with the audience. Anyhow thanks for stopping by, I've actually already started on the next chapter so expect that before the end of next week. Also I'll probably be on Hiatus for like two weeks after the end of next week due to mock exams.**

 **Don't be afraid to tell me what's wrong with the story, or if you need any clarification, just ask.**

 **-Peace, Myrillis**


	9. Interlude 2 Scars of the Past (Part 2)

**Chapter 8 Interlude 2 Scars of the Past (Part 2)**

 **Hello again. Just letting you guys know I've updated Chapter 1 as of March 10, 2017 with more statistics and such!**

"Oh, no you don't asshole!" said Ethan charging into the Faunus sending him flying.

"Qrow get her out of here," Ethan stated engaging with the bull.

"You've got this right?" asked Qrow.

"Just get her out of here man," Ethan said urgently.

Qrow saw the blade impaling Cassie's hand that had no safe point to grab it from. Making a quick decision, he flared his aura saving his hand from any cuts and extracting the blade. He scooped her up and began running, "I'm coming back for you Ethan."

"She's more important Qrow, remember what I said," stated Ethan mid-fight, his mass, and overall strength keeping the bull Faunus at bay.

Qrow complied running to the Atlas airship that had dropped him off near the end of the train. Ironwood was nearby in a Bullhead sending in soldiers.

"Ironwood! We need a medic! Now!" shouted Qrow as he ran towards them.

"What happened, is she conscious?" said Ironwood. A medic came and took her away.

"She's not conscious, but do you see that bullet hole in her shoulder, that wasn't from the bull. How did that happen, I heard one shot fired and it was from outside the train, and you know it!" shouted Qrow.

"My sniper said he had a clear shot," said Ironwood.

"How would he have a shot on Taurus when he's fighting?! He put a child at risk Jimmy! Hell she might even die! Damn it Jimmy, what kind of training are these soldiers put through that causes them to make such a risky call!"

"Qrow, please be civil," stated Ironwood.

"Look at her James! How can I be civil when someone the same age as my younger niece is laying here This shouldn't have happened! No wonder Ozpin thinks you're such a loose cannon, with the training you approved for these soldiers, I can see why he doesn't trust them,"

"She's so young, why is she even here!" refuted Ironwood.

"Don't give me that crap Jimmy. Don't try to blame me or Ethan for this. She was signing up to start training at a combat school. Tech guru over there, give me the footage from the car behind the Schnee's," as he said that the technical operator handed him a tablet.

"Let's watch this shall we," said Qrow. It was a close fight, but the rage within the bull Faunus made the fight seem like it was in Cassie's favour. "Ironwood she was doing just fine, at least until the sniper took the shot."

"How is she such a good fighter? Where did she receive her training?"

"Well in her condition, she's not gonna be doing much of that thanks to you. But she got some sword play from me, the rest was developed herself. She's very technical and understands her way around a fight. It's a shame really, though. She won't be able to do much of that anymore. Look Jimmy this isn't over, but I got a friend to help right now."

With that Qrow took off on his way to help his friend. He heard his scroll ringing and answered it

"Qrow this is bad, the Schnee's been evacuated, but the train's rigged to explode man," Ethan said through the scroll.

"Shit that's bad! You on you're way right?" asked Qrow.

"Look man, there's no way anything is getting out of here, its bad for all of us. But there is one thing I can do," responded Ethan.

"Ethan what the FUCK are you thinking!" Qrow shouted into the scroll.

"My shield can cover about 45 degrees of the blast, I hope it's enough to let you guys get out of there,"

"What about you?" asked Qrow.

"I don't think I'm makin' it out of this one," said Ethan.

"What do you mean?

"That Bull took a crap tonne of my aura, and there's not enough time for me to make it to the airship, and even if I did, the blast would catch us all. This is the only way," said Ethan.

"Fuck man, you can't be serious!"

"Just try to take care of Cassie for me. Please," pleaded Ethan.

"Look I know the chances are slim, but try to make it out of there man,"

"It's not like I'm not, but its an impossible situation. Qrow can you do me one last favour?" asked Ethan.

"Anything, I'll do it," said Qrow.

"Cassie needs to know whatever you and Ozpin are doing, I may not know it but as a final request, please tell her when she's older. She'd want to help just as much as I would've," said Ethan.

Qrow contemplated his request. On one hand, he had sworn secrecy about the topic of the maidens and Ozpin's actual origin, but he knew what the right choice was. Honouring his friend's wish came before anything, he knew he wouldn't feel any regrets from this.

"Yes Ethan, I'll tell her when the time comes," he responded.

"Thank you. Tell Cassie I'm sorry," Ethan said ending the call.

"Fuck!" shouted Qrow, running back to the airship.

"Jimmy we gotta go now!" shouted Qrow.

"Why? What's going on,"

"Train's rigged to blow, but Ethan's giving us a 45 degree of safety, but we gotta go now," said Qrow.

"Where is he," said Ironwood.

"He's staying behind making sure we get out, but we gotta go now so his sacrifice isn't for nothing," said Qrow.

"Fine, get in here," said Ironwood. He ordered the pilot to get them out of there as fast as he possibly could.

 _Present day_

"It was a pretty shitty day for everyone really, I lost my protector, my father figure, my best friend. Qrow lost a friend as well, and I became his burden for a while too. I was in a pretty bad place," said Cassie.

"Oh, my Oum. Cassie that's so sad, I wish I could make it better for you," said Ruby.

"Well sorry to break it to you, but it's not over. Don't look yet," said Cassie, turning her back to Ruby pulling off her shirt.

"You can look now," said Cassie.

Her back was covered in what look like lashes from a whip. There were too many to count.

"Cassie how…" said Ruby.

"These were from two years ago. I was on a mission with a branch from Atlas and they really didn't like me. They thought my inexperience was holding them back , but it was their plan that got me captured but allowed them to escape, and of course the mission had to be on Menagerie, the literal base camp for the White Fang. Anyways, the 'leader' of our attachment thought that charging in was a good choice, and that didn't end well for us. We were holding the Fang back, but we were getting tired. One of the group used their semblance to teleport each of us away one by one, but they either ran out of aura, or just decided not to come back…"

 _Two years ago_

Cassie woke up in a cell with only a tiny bit of light shining through the slit in the door. She looked down to see that the Fang had taken her left arm, 'Smart,' she thought. She found her right arm tied in front, and felt a collar around her neck to which her arm was bound to. 'Guess that's why my aura's so low.'

She tried to get up but found herself incredibly exhausted and ended up falling over, "Shit!" she cursed aloud.

"The human's awake," said a voice outside the cell. Footsteps came closer and finally the door opened. "Human, why are you here on menagerie? This is ground meant for Faunus only," said a cloaked wolf Faunus.

"It's not like I wanted to come here, I didn't even know what Atlas wanted here, I was just sent in to support those dumbasses who escaped," she responded truthfully.

"I see, well I don't regret to inform you that you are a prisoner of ours now. We could probably do whatever we wanted and no one would bat an eye," said the Faunus.

"I know apologies will get me nowhere, I can see it in you eyes. That's fine, I accept any punishment," said Cassie.

"You're not begging for your life?" asked the Faunus.

"Nothing I can do now, better to just accept whatever happens next," responded Cassie.

"Whatever. Ilia, get bring the human her food. We're not animals," said the Faunus before leaving.

The aforementioned Ilia entered with a tray of bread and a cup of water. "Here human, you're lucky we're civil," said the chameleon Faunus.

"I am lucky, thank you," said Cassie accepting the food gratefully.

"How are you so calm? All the other prisoners thought we were scum, how can you be so uncaring about this?" asked Ilia.

"I'm not getting out of here anytime soon. No one's coming for me, I don't have anything to go back to. I'd rather my time here be as comfortable as possible," she responded.

"Please your fellow humans are probably marching over here right now," responded Ilia.

"Funny. I don't have family, no relatives, no friends, my supposed comrades left me for dead. I'm just a pawn in all of this. This is my punishment for blindly following orders, and I guess I deserve it. I understand that you hate me, I can see it in your eyes. The past shapes us in many ways, its shaped me to be complacent, and you to have a prejudice against me. You probably think I hate you back, but I don't, keep that in mind," said Cassie.

Ilia growled, slamming the door leaving Cassie alone in her thoughts.

Cassie awoke the next morning and started meditating, even though she never really thought it would do her any good, there's a time for everything. Eventually Ilia began banging on the door shaking Cassie out of her daze.

"Human," growled Ilia opening the door, and sliding the tray over.

"Thank you, Ilia," replied Cassie.

'She seems nice,' thought Cassie. She finished the food that was given to her, and even though she craved more, she tried to re-enter the state that she had just managed to achieve. Even though it didn't do anything for her physically it was at least peaceful and she could escape her surroundings.

Eventually Cassie decided to at least try to work out. She began by doing 50 sit-ups and push-ups to see how weak she had gotten. She managed to finish them, but got tired afterwards and wasn't able to continue. She noted that the food given to her was lacking in fats, thereby secretively lowering her physical ability by inhibiting some nutrients. 'They really know their shit,' thought Cassie, deciding to continue as planned.

Cassie followed this routine for days, slowly gaining her strength back, and building a stronger connection with her soul. Ilia began to talk to her more, insults more than anything, but it was something. This continued for over two months, Ilia did show surprise wondering why no one came for Cassie, still believing she had lied before.

"I told you before, no one's coming for me," said Cassie.

"Why are you so certain of this Human?" questioned Ilia.

"Everyone that cared about me died, so who's gonna come for me? Not some good Samaritan, or a random Hunter. I'm statistically insignificant, and it would be a waste of resources to send any form of rescue my way. I may be a soldier, but Atlas's strength comes from it's cold heart," responded Cassie.

"Even the Fang are not that cold,"

"You guys aren't, but there are people in the Fang who are much worse,"

"You would know this how?"

"They took my only family away from me, almost killed me. How do you think I lost my arm, not a Grimm attack. Pure hatred of humanity caused this, and now lil' thirteen year old me is left all alone, no one to love her, no where to go. But I know most of you Faunus aren't like the one who took everything away from me. He told me to always keep an open mind when he was still alive, and that's what I'm doing. I'm gonna say this again. I don't hate or blame the Faunus for anything that's happened to me, I just wish no one would have to through the pain I did," Cassie cried tears in her eyes.

"I'm supposed to hate you! How can I now? You're so young and terrible things have happened to you and you don't hate me! Why-" said Ilia before she was interrupted.

"Ilia please bring the prisoner to the courtyard," said the fox Faunus from earlier.

"Yes sir," responded Ilia, "Come on, don't make this hard."

"And I'm not going to," said Cassie getting up and allowing Ilia to lead her to the destination.

"Good Ilia, now remove her shirt," said the fox Faunus.

Ilia did so if hesitantly.

"Now tie her hand to this post," said the fox Faunus.

Ilia complied.

"Perfect. Now members of the White Fang. We found this human infiltrating Menagerie about two months ago, now we feel that she should be punished for her actions. Ilia will now demonstrate her loyalty to us by punishing the human fittingly, I suggest twenty strokes," said the fox Faunus.

"Ilia, just make it quick," whispered Cassie looking at Ilia, "If you don't it'll only be worse for you, a little pain is nothing."

Ilia kneeled by Cassie supposedly tell her she deserved what she was about to get, in reality she said, "Thank you, I don't know why you as a Human is being so selfless towards me, but if there's any human I respect it's you."

Ilia drew her whip, and prepared herself for the pain she was about to cause. She knew she was going to feel guilty even if it was just a human. This human was telling her to do it. No human would let this happen willingly, yet this one would rather endure the pain then let Ilia deal with the consequences of not.

She drew back and sent the whip flying. Cassie's body shuddered in pain. With no aura, she had to endure every bit of force. It did not draw blood. Another strike, more pain. It kept going. By the fifth, the first gash had appeared, and it continued from there. More and more strikes, more and more scars.

Suddenly a great cloud of smoke appeared and once it dissipated, Cassie was gone, without a trace. Deep down, Ilia was happy she was gone, no longer having to cause pain to another being.

"Finally found you kiddo," said Qrow as Cassie awoke.

"Qrow?" she asked. She found she was wearing his jacket, and that he was only in a t-shirt found under his normal outfit.

"That's right kiddo. They hid you pretty well, not gonna lie. Damn they're good. I treated you as best I could, think I cleaned the wounds pretty well. How did this even happen?"

"The soldiers sent in with me made a bad call and abandoned me when shit hit the fan," responded Cassie.

"Damn it Jimmy," cursed Qrow under his breath, "Look I've gotcha now okay. You'll be fine kiddo,"

 _Present day_

"You let her whip you?" asked Ruby.

"Knowing the Fang, if she didn't do it someone else would've and she would've been in deep shit," replied Cassie.

"How come you sell yourself so short?"

"I'm nothing special Ruby," Cassie stated.

"How? You've been through so much, and you're still here fighting, you didn't give up, you didn't run, but you still think you're worth so little. You're worth so much more Cassie. You're worth a lot to me if that means anything," said Ruby.

"That does mean something, thanks Ruby. It's just I guess I haven't had someone say that to me in a long time," said Cassie putting her shirt back on.

"Then let me be that person Cassie, you always need someone like that. I've always had Yang. You, you haven't had anyone do that for you in three years. It hurts. You're so strong yet, you've been hurt so bad. I'll be here for you, even if its just to tell you you're worth something," said Ruby hugging Cassie again, this time Cassie returned the hug and actually smiled.

 **AN: Woot actually done another chapter lmao. BTW I've updated chapter 1, as I'm providing a little more info and statistics about the characters.**

 **Your criticism is always welcome, so please don't hesitate to let me know if there's anything that needs improvement or clarification.**

 **-Peace, Myrillis**


	10. Interlude 3 Apologies

**So I'm writing this literally right after the completion of the previous chapter lol. So we just hit like 2.3k views and that's actually awesome, can't thank you guys enough. If you guys have any questions feel free to ask, I'll reply as soon as possible. Enjoy the chapter.**

 **Oh and I just found out the story has another favourite! Thanks to Xireana Prime, for the fav. I enjoy writing, I find it incredibly fun, and that's why I do it. But this actually gave me the motivation to finish this chapter after an incredibly taxing day of Paintball and studying.**

"Is it alright if we don't tell the others about this?" asked Cassie as Ruby pushed her towards the cafeteria.

"You trusted me, so it's only fair if I respect your wishes. This is something you can tell them when you're ready. I know it must have been painful telling me. You deserve a whole lot better Cassie. I, still feel bad that you got hurt. I know it's not my fault, but I can't help but feel for you. Yang went through the same thing, but I left her. I didn't even try to help, but that's not happening this time," said Ruby.

"Thanks Ruby. You're doing everything you can right now anyways. It's nice actually having a person to talk to. As you can tell, I don't really trust the soldiers back at Atlas, and Winter's the only one that I'm okay with talking to. Ironwood may have sponsored my arm, but I don't trust him. Don't get me wrong I'm grateful for it, but I don't trust his judgement," said Cassie.

"Smart kiddo," said Qrow who walked up beside them, "Jimmy's an alright guy, but he's to bullheaded and you're right to not trust his judgement based off of decisions he's made about you alone. He's quick to act. That can be both a good thing and a bad thing, and in everyone of your cases, a bad thing. Good to see you, though kiddo."

"Ruby, you take good care of her okay, I gotta head out for a couple days," said Qrow before leaving the duo on their way.

After a couple minutes they arrived at the table where Jaune, Yang, Wiess, Nora and Ren were all sitting. Almost like times back in Beacon.

"Hey guys," greeted Ruby.

"'Sup," greeted Cassie.

"Morning girls," replied Yang and Ren

"Good Morning," replied Wiess.

"Hiya," replied Nora.

"Hey," replied Jaune.

"Feeling any better Cass?" asked Yang.

"Yeah, actually I'm gonna do some physio later, hopefully I'll be able to walk with crutches by the end of the week," said Cassie.

"And I'm gonna be there to make sure she does it," said Ruby.

"You're really taking this caretaker role seriously aren't you Rubes?" asked Yang.

"Yup," replied Ruby.

"Cassandra, the reasoning behind your condition is due to disconnect of your soul correct?" asked Ren.

"Yeah that's right," responded Cassie.

"I would also suggest meditation to try and connect with your soul alongside your physio," he said.

"That seems like a good idea, thanks Ren," said Cassie.

"Ren always has the best ideas," said Nora.

"Something to keep in mind, thanks Nora," responded Cassie.

"Hey Cassie, I'm gonna grab you some food, want anything in particular?" asked Ruby.

"Pancakes, and bacon please," said Cassie, and Ruby went.

"I like you even more," said Nora.

"Cassie, what's gotcha in good spirits today?" asked Yang.

"I guess Ruby's rubbing off on me," said Cassie.

"Her happiness is contagious," said Yang.

"So, Wiess. If you don't mind me asking, how did you get to Mistral, I don't think your father would've let you willingly?" asked Cassie

"I snuck out in a cargo airship," responded Wiess.

"Same way I did," said Cassie, "Hey Jaune, what's up, I know you don't like me very much, but can we at least engage in some small talk?"

"It's not that, look can we talk about this later," said Jaune.

"If that's what you want," said Cassie.

No one else knew what Jaune knew. He could've prevented all of this. Pyrrha wouldn't be in her current depressed state, and Cassie wouldn't have been injured. All because he froze. He could've done something, but he didn't. He proved himself to be ta coward once again. Last time he had the chance to save Pyrrha, at least he knew she was alive. He basically crippled someone he just met because of his inaction, yet she wondered if he disliked her. He had to go talk to Pyrrha, she might be able to help him.

"Winter! Open up, I need to speak to Pyrrha!" shouted Jaune outside the outpost.

"You don't realize how lucky you are Mr Arc. We've just deemed her fit for Human contact, and the fact that she asked for you reinforced my decision to let you in. Go now Mr Arc, I hope I have made the right decision," said Winter opening the door. She stepped out of the way and he followed her to where they were holding Pyrrha. She was in a room that had all of the necessities needed. A separate washroom, a bed, even a computer. It looked relatively comfortable, except that Pyrrha was not deemed fit for discharge, but visitors were allowed.

"I'll leave you two alone," said Winter, leaving the room.

"Pyrrha, I'm so, so sorry, this is all my fault," cried Jaune, "If-"

"Jaune stop. I did this, all of this. It was my decision to go up to the tower. Mine and mine alone. I knew I wasn't strong enough to defeat Cinder, but I had to try and be the hero that Remnant needed," stated Pyrrha.

"Pyrrha wait," said Jaune.

"I'm sorry Jaune, I don't know how you felt what happened in beacon, but I'm sorry for that, whatever pain you and everyone else went through, was caused by me. I didn't think about how you would feel or how anyone else would feel. I'm not the Invincible Girl that everyone thought I was, and I learned that the hard way," said Pyrrha.

"The Pyrrha I know would never let something keep her down, what's gotten into you?" questioned Jaune.

"You try it Jaune, I was forced to watch as my body lay waste to village after village. At least I never had to kill someone, not until the girl who sacrificed herself for Ruby. I should have been able to fight it, but that thing… It hurt so much Jaune, I was helpless and that girl had to pay with her life. If not her, the thing would have taken Ruby. It knew. It knew the girl would get in the way, so it killed her. It would not have thrown the sword at Ruby if it had no known Jaune, they want Ruby for her eyes. I don't know why but they do. And now I'm a murderer Jaune. I killed someone, a human being,"

"Pyrrha, Cassandra, the girl, she's not dead. She almost was though, but she fought hard and pulled through, look-," said Jaune before he was interrupted by said girl.

"Damn right I'm not dead, it'll take a lot more than that to kill me," said Cassie being wheeled over by Ruby.

"Pyrrha! You're okay!" exclaimed Ruby.

"Stay back! Don't come any closer, I'm dangerous," said Pyrrha.

"If you were dangerous the doctors wouldn't have let us see you, especially me or Ruby for that matter," said Cassie.

"You're really alive," said Pyrrha incredulously.

"Yup," said Cassie, "Thanks to a little rose putting me in stasis, I lived."

"But you saved me first," responded Ruby.

"True, true," said Cassie, "Now Pyrrha, I've come here to tell you one thing, and that is-,"

"That you hate me for what I did to you, that I shouldn't be alive right now?" asked Pyrrha.

"What the actual FUCK has gotten into you're head! I don't blame you in the slightest for what happened. It wasn't you in control, that was fairly obvious," said Cassie.

"But I should have been able to fight it, that shouldn't have happened in the first place," replied Pyrrha.

"Water under the bridge. If it makes you feel any better, I forgive you, even though there's nothing for you to apologize for," said Cassie.

"But you're so hurt because of me,"

"But I'm gonna get better, thanks to everyone here, they're not gonna let me sit around and mope, so that's good," said Cassie.

"How can you even stand to talk to me though?" asked Pyrrha.

"You're not a bad person, and I don't really hold grudges," responded Cassie.

"How is she okay with this Ruby?" asked Pyrrha.

"She's been through a lot and she's a total badass," said Ruby.

"Thanks. Look, Pyrrha, don't beat yourself up about this. It was out of your control and you feel bad about it, but I see no reason to. If I did die, it would've been terrible, but I didn't. I'm here now and that's all that matters. You're no murderer," said Cassie.

"Guys, I know this isn't the best time, but now you're all here, and I need to get this off my chest," interjected Jaune.

"Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?" asked Cassie.

"Yes," responded Jaune, "You know how you were the first one to react when that sword was thrown right?"

"Yeah," said Cassie.

"It should have been me there to stop it. You had no way to defend yourself, yet you charged straight in knowing the consequences. I had more time to react than you, but I froze. I could've blocked it with my shield with very few consequences, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't step up when I was needed. Cassie, Ruby, Pyrrha, again me and my cowardice caused so much pain for all of you. I understand if you wish to not have me around, I just wanted to talk to Pyrrha one last time," said Jaune.

"Jaune, we can't blame you for that. You weren't bred to be a warrior, you were never taught about necessary sacrifices that we as warriors had to take. I was trained to defend the defenseless, so I did. My mentor instilled in me when he first took me in. It's a scary thing, staring death in the face. Believe me, it is. So far only two of us have truly stared death in the eyes and lived to tell the tale, that being me and Pyrrha over there. You weren't ready, and I at least don't blame you," responded Cassie.

"She's right Jaune. You only wanted to become a hunter because of your heritage. You didn't go to a combat school. Even though I didn't get to finish my time in Signal, I knew what had to be done when it had to be," responded Ruby.

"Jaune, I can't possible blame you for any of this, I would never wish for you to leave. If you feel like you need to make it up to us, the only way you can is to train and become stronger, and learn what we had to," said Pyrrha.

"I get it, you feel bad because you could have done something. Thing is, could haves don't really matter, as long as you make sure they won't happen again. No offence, but none of us really expected you to be ready to make such a big sacrifice, the fact that you fought that Ancient Grimm is good enough in my books Jaune. Don't beat yourself up, okay?" said Cassie.

"How can you be so accepting? You almost died, and its like you don't care," said Jaune.

"Well, my life means just as much as anyone else's, the difference being I care less about self-preservation. As long as the others around me are alright, then that's good enough for me," responded Cassie.

"For a seventeen-year-old, you're pretty selfless," said Jaune

"Correction, I'm fifteen," interjected Cassie.

"Your fifteen?" asked Jaune and Pyrrha.

"Yup, Ruby's actually older than me," she stated.

"You're kidding," said Jaune.

"Nope, although my I turn sixteen next month," responded Cassie.

"So Ruby's like, what five months older than you?" asked Jaune.

"Yup," responded Cassie.

"That means I'm not the only young one here," said Ruby.

"We're only two years younger," said Cassie.

"If you don't mind me asking, what did you do before coming to Mistral?" asked Pyrrha.

"Atlas specialist. It's not fun, but it pays well, and I get more because of my… situation," said Cassie.

"What do you mean?" asked Pyrrha.

"For one, my so called brothers-in-arms, they treat me like shit because of my age, Winter's unit are the only people I get on with. Ironwood may seem like a great general, but he's really stupid sometimes, and I don't agree with the standard protocol, so I never follow it, honestly I don't know why he keeps me around," responded Cassie.

"Then why do you stay, I mean, I'm not one to talk, but why?" asked Pyrrha.

"Well, I have nothing better to do, I need the funding in order to keep my arm, and I don't really have anyone to care for. I have a house to go back to, not a home," said Cassie.

"Wouldn't your parents wish to have you back?" asked Pyrrha.

"Right, only Ruby knows this. See, I don't have parents, or none that I know of," responded Cassie.

"Oh, I'm sorry… I didn't know,"

"It's fine Pyrrha, how could you have known," reassured Cassie.

"Hey Cass, I know you've forgiven me and all, but I also need to apologise for how I treated you when we first met. I was a real dick, Hell I even asked you to take off your arm, and you did. Then I proceeded to treat you like crap because of my stupidity," said Jaune.

"You didn't do anything except try to keep your group safe, and I could be perceived as a liability, a threat. You did what you thought was best, no need to apologise," responded Cassie.

"You are literally the most forgiving person ever, you know that right?" asked Jaune.

"Well if that's that, I need to get to physio so you two love birds can talk in peace," said Cassie.

"You know?!" exclaimed Jaune and Pyrrha.

"Well Ruby said something about a kiss between you two so I only assumed. Your reactions are my proof," stated Cassie.

"At least you're okay Pyrrha. I'm sorry I wasn't able to save you back at the tower, I should have been faster," said Ruby.

"Heed Cassandra's advice Ruby, could haves don't matter if you know they won't happen again," said Pyrrha.

"Thanks Pyrrha. Now Ruby can you take me over to the infirmary?" asked Cassie.

"Sure thing," said Ruby wheeling Cassie out of the room towards Haven academy.

 **Thanks to everyone who's made it this far, expect a tenth chapter special in the near future**

 **-Peace Myrillis**


	11. Interlude 4 Selfless

**Interlude 4**

 **Bonjour! I'm back with another chapter, I'm actually getting work done with this story, lol. Anyways back to it…**

"Damn that's tiring," said Cassie as she left the infirmary from her daily physio.

"Well, I mean, you've just like woke up from a coma, worsened by the fact your aura was literally zero," responded Ruby.

"True, true. So whatcha wanna do now, since I can't do much on my own?" asked Cassie.

"Oh! Can we test out your arm?" asked Ruby.

"Sure. I mean Opal didn't get to tell me what she did when she made this, but now we get to find out for ourselves," stated Cassie.

The duo made their way to the testing range of Haven academy, only to find it relatively empty due to the start of the semester. During the middle of the day in the middle of the week in the middle of September, it was to be expected.

"Alright, lets go over some of the features that should be standard by now," said Cassie.

"First, the shuriken launcher. Could ya pass me a dust crystal, any type?" asked Cassie to which Ruby gave a burn dust crystal.

Cassie then opened up her forearm and placed the crystal in, causing it to glow red through the plating for a second. She then proceeded to complete the motion commands that created her projectiles. It worked flawlessly as expected from Opal's craftmanship. She threw them at a nearby target and they found their mark just fine. After a half-second they ignited, leaving burn marks where they once were.

"Perfect," said Cassie.

"That's pretty awesome Cassie. What else can that beauty do?" asked Ruby.

"Well it can do this," said Cassie, launching her forearm towards Ruby, who put her arms up to cover her face, expecting to be hit, only it never came. She opened her eyes to see the forearm in front of her face hovering there, with one finger extended. It then poked Ruby on her now exposed nose.

"Boop!" exclaimed Cassie.

"You're just like Nora," said Ruby.

"Relax, I'd never hurt you," said Cassie.

"That's pretty awesome though,"

"Thanks, but from yesterday, I saw it could do something even better," said Cassie, "Let's see if voice commands do anything, 'Arm, do the spinny launcher thing,'"

"Command unknown," responded the arm, "Given Designation: Tornado Crusher. Voice commands are as follows User: Rocket Punch; Standard forearm launch. Star Flurry; Over produces projectiles and launches them all within one second of each other, depletes the current dust crystal. Electro-hook; The electro magnets within your arm will activate carrying you towards the launched forearm. Turbo-Smasher Punch; Launches Forearm, creates dust fins around the arm and launches it with much more force and speed as well as spinning allowing for more penetration power. End."

"Of course those ridiculous names are Opal's, only she could come up with such crazy names. Well let's test them out shall we?" asked Cassie.

"Sure thing. Oh can I try a voice command?" asked Ruby.

"Go ahead, I'm just not sure if it will respond to you," said Cassie.

"Star Flurry!" exclaimed Ruby, hoping for something to happen.

"Star Flurry," stated Cassie, to which the arm responded by readying itself and unleashing a torrent of throwing stars at the target Cassie was facing.

"Dang it," said Ruby.

"Guess it doesn't like you. Let's try this; Rocket Punch," said Cassie launching her arm towards a monkey bar. She wanted it to grasp the bar to which it did. "Electro-hook," stated Cassie, feeling her upper arm start to be pulled towards the forearm. It lifted her with ease and ended up attaching itself to the forearm which remained grasping the bar as it connected with it's master.

"Whoa! That's so cool!" exclaimed Ruby.

"Shit! I did not think that through, there's no way I'm making a landing from this high up, without aura or leg strength," said Cassie.

"Um, I'll try to get you down," said Ruby.

"You sure?" asked Cassie.

"Yup," said Ruby. The cloaked girl used her semblance to boost herself up to Cassie, grabbing her, then letting herself fall. Only to use her semblance to booster herself at a slight angle above the floor, enough to negate the downwards momentum. "Told you I'd get you down," said Ruby holding Cassie bridal style.

"You sure did," said Cassie, looking up at her friend smiling. Ruby looking down doing the same thing.

"What did I walk into?" asked Yang, as she saw the two girls.

"Well we were testing out Cassie's new arm and she ended up getting stuck on the monkey bars up there, then I had to get her down," said Ruby.

"My hero," said Cassie.

"What got you up there though?" said Yang.

"The electro magnets in my arm. Catch!" said Cassie, launching her arm at Yang with low velocity. The girl in question caught it with ease.

"Alright, can you hold it just above my wheelchair?" asked Cassie, Yang obliging.

"Electro hook," she muttered, hearing her upper arm ready up. She was pulled quickly over to the arm and it reattached, leaving her right above the wheelchair.

"Whoa, that's pretty cool," said Yang.

"It is, but could you set me down please?" asked Cassie. Yang proceeded to gently place Cassie back in the wheelchair.

"You didn't seem to eager to let Ruby put you down," whispered Yang.

"That's because she's cooler than you," stated Cassie. This left Yang flabbergasted. Someone thought that Ruby was cooler than her, this never happened.

"What did you just say?" asked Yang.

"Your. Sister. Is. Cooler. Than. You." Stated Cassie bluntly.

"Wha-," was all Yang could say.

"And you said I wasn't cool," said Ruby.

"You should've seen the way she got me down, it was pretty epic. I don't think you could've pulled it off," said Cassie.

"It's okay, Yang. Only a little bit of bruising to you're ego," said Ruby.

"Whatever, anyways the main reason I came here was to ask if you guys wanted to eat something, it's about lunch time, so you wanna come with?" asked Yang.

"Sure, Ruby you don't mind pushing me?" asked Cassie.

"Not at all," said Ruby.

The three made their way over to the cafeteria relatively quickly. They saw that it was packed due to it being lunch time and all. Ruby and Yang saw some familiar faces sitting with Wiess, Ren and Nora. There with the trio were team CFVY and three members of team SSSN, Sun being absent.

"'Sup guys," greeted Yang.

"Hey, Yang," greeted everyone.

"Who's the new chick with Ruby?" asked Coco.

"The name's Cassandra Aotatsu, just call me Cass," responded Cassie.

"Well I'm Coco Adel, meet the team. This red-head over here's named Fox, the Brunette's name is Velvet, and tall and silent beside her's named Yatsuhashi, just call him Yatsu," said Coco.

"The name's Neptune, de-facto leader of team SSSN," said Neptune, "Beside me with the red hair is Scarlet, and beside him is Sage, nice to meet you."

"Likewise," responded Cassie.

"So we've heard a little bit from these three about you, but we wanted to hear from the real deal. So, did you, ya know actually almost die?" asked Coco.

"Coco, don't be insensitive," chastised Velvet.

"It's fine, but yes that's true," said Cassie.

"I had heard that you were able to produce dragons as part of your semblance, is this true?" asked Yatsu.

"Yup, I don't even know the full extent of my semblance though, but it does relate to dragons. That much I know," said Cassie.

"Interesting, do you know of the origin of your parents?" asked Yatsu.

"Well, see I don't know if my parents are alive or dead for that matter," responded Cassie.

"I am truly sorry," stated Yatsu.

"No harm done, I've gotten used to it," said Cassie.

"Well let's switch topics shall we, um what Hunter academy to you go to?" asked Neptune.

"None," she responded.

"Okay, wait, how old are you?" asked Neptune.

"Fifteen," she responded.

"Oh, what combat school are you training at?" asked Neptune.

"None, but if you're asking about my occupation, I'm an Atlas Specialist," responded Cassie.

"What?" asked both team CFVY and SSSN.

"She's not lying, she was tasked as my bodyguard before being tasked here in Mistral," said Wiess.

"Damn, you're something special kid," said Coco.

"Wow," said Neptune.

"Smooth Nep," said Sage.

"Cassandra, you're name appears to be of Mistralian ancestry. Both Ren and I share in that. Ren has told me about your auric problems, might I suggest that we try a method of aura rekindling?" asked Yatsu.

"Anything to help get me back on my feet," said Cassie, "Hey Ruby, wanna tag along?"

"Sure," responded Ruby.

"You don't mind right?" asked Cassie.

"Not at all," responded Yatsu.

"Cool," said Cassie.

"Ooh, you get some time with two hunks Cass, good going," said Coco.

"I see what you're thinking Coco, but I don't swing that way if you know what I mean," responded Cassie, "Does that bother any of you?"

"Not at all," they responded.

"I'll take your place," said Yang suggestively.

"Nonsense," said Yatsu, "This would only provide benefit for her as she is the one with an auric condition, an aura induced state of weakness rather. None of which would benefit any of you here at this table."

"This might be a little off topic, but could someone grab me a little something to eat?" asked Cassie, "I'd do it myself, but you can see that might be difficult."

"As I have already eaten, I shall bring you a meal, and as Ruby is your acting caretaker I shall bring her one as well," said Yatsu.

"Thanks Yatsu," said Cassie.

"It is not a problem," he stated as he walked off.

"You know something?" asked Yang.

"What? asked everyone.

"Ruby's gotten pretty tall, mind standing Ruby?" asked Yang.

Her sister complied standing next to her at her full height, and Yang was right. Ruby now stood just one inch shorter than her older sister. "Damn Ruby, you grew like five inches from the time I saw you last."

"The milk really paid off!" exclaimed Ruby.

"Nice going Ruby. Class is about to start, so the we have to head out, see ya later," said Coco as Yatsuhashi returned with the food. With that team CFVY left.

"Same with us, peace guys," said Neptune as team SSSN got up to go to class as well. Within the next few minutes the cafeteria emptied out.

"Well, that just leaves us," said Yang.

"How did you get here Yang?" asked Ren, "You were lucky to make it here when you did."

"That is very true, well I got to Mistral by boat, and I brought Bumblebee along with me to make the trip here quicker, and thank Oum I did. I don't think Ruby and Jaune would've been able to take that thing on their own, and well the whole… Pyrrha situation would've made quick work of the other two, sorry Ruby," said Yang.

"No, you're right," said Ruby, "The only two fit to fight her were Cassie and Uncle Qrow."

"Cassandra, Pyrrha said that, she said that you should've won the fight, she said you were winning until you could see her face, then you went on the defensive, why?" asked Ren.

"I can slay Grimm any time, but I can't do that to a person, I just can't. I always try to go for the least painful way of incapacitating my enemy, but in this case she was too strong for that. I couldn't bring myself to hurt her..." said Cassie.

"I see," said Ren, "You are not as bad of a person that you make yourself out to be, this shows it."

"Maybe…" respond Cassie.

"Chin-up, Cass. Hell you fought better than any us," said Yang.

"Thanks," said Cassie.

"You've done a lot for us in the little time that we've known you, Cassandra. When I was not in a right state of mind you made sure to let Nora remove me from the area, thereby making it safer for the others. If I had done something rash in that state…" said Ren.

"He could've got himself or one of us really hurt," Nora finished for him, "It means a lot to me that you didn't let him fight the way he was. You may not know it, but if something happened to Ren, I don't know what I would've done."

"Cassandra, you seem to not know it, but the things you've for us were, are not meaningless no matter what you think of them. You seem to think more of others than yourself, which can be seen in your actions. I ask this of you because we feel the need to. Please take care of yourself," said Ren.

"Why are you guys so worried?" asked Cassie.

"Because we know you'll put us before you," said Ruby, "Look, Cassie, I don't want you to just throw yourself at just anything that'll hurt us."

"You don't know that," responded Cassie.

"I do. Uncle Qrow's told me a lot about you. I know you had a rough time as a kid, but he says you do everything for other people, and rarely for yourself. Even in the littlest of ways. He told me about the kid you gave your first paycheck to even though you needed it. He told me about how fifty percent of all the money you make goes to orphanages. He told me you get by well enough. From the way you spend you're money it's clear that you're not the number one priority. After everything you've done for us we just want you to look after yourself for once, sometimes being so selfless isn't a good thing," said Ruby.

"I guess so… If that's what you want Ruby, I'll do it. If it makes you feel better, I'll try to take better care of myself. Although having you taking care of me is great," said Cassie.

"What can I say, learned from the greatest sister!" said Ruby, "Up top!"

Yang reciprocated with a huge smile and thumbs up, "Guess we got ourselves a keeper!"

"You're sticking with us right Cassie?" asked Ruby.

"I'm in it for the long haul," responded Cassie.

 **If you can't tell, a lot of the inspiration for Cassie's arm comes from the Mazinger Z series as well as the Mazinkaiser and Mazinkaiser SKL Mecha animes. Loved those shows, literally my childhood. Anyhow, wrote this in my spare time between studying physics and math, so tell me if there are any issues, I'll be sure to fix them when I get the chance.**

 **-Peace, Myrillis**


	12. In With The New

"You have to calm down Cassandra, I can sense the tension within you," said Ren.

"I'm trying Ren, I really am. I don't know why I can't calm down," responded Cassie.

Ruby, Ren, Yatsuhashi and Cassie were in a room reserved for those who wished to meditate. In Mistral, many took the time out of their days to do so, Ren and Yatsuhashi were no exceptions. Cassie thought this should be easy, she had been able to calm down back on Menagerie, what was keeping her from it now?

"It might the trauma that is not allowing you to reach complete calmness. It has happened quite recently and it might have a much deeper effect than originally thought," said Ren.

"Maybe you're right. Shit, is there anything I can do?" asked Cassie.

"What keeps you calm?" asked Ren.

"I don't know, I usually am calm," responded Cassie.

"I see. Let's try again," said Ren.

"Focus on your breathing, that might be able to let you enter a calmer state of mind," recommended Yatsu.

Ruby was really just in the room as emotional support and she could see that her new friend was really trying to reach the state of mind needed, she knew that she herself would probably never be able to even sit still long enough to even try.

Cassie was slowly getting pissed off, the exact opposite of what she needed. Why the Hell couldn't she get it. It had been two hours, while Ren and Yatsu had already entered the state of calm she desired, it had gotten to a point where they were emitting a faint glow, the stage that should help speed up her recovery. Connection of the mind and the soul were very important, she had lost that connection for some time, where her mind was present for the duration of her aura, her soul was not. Her mind remained with the physical body while the soul had its visit with the man in the white void.

At least she had managed to tune out the outside world. She could not hear the breathing of her friends, nor the friend who had decided to sit down beside her, but the newfound presence did have an effect. She felt comfortable as her breathing became more relaxed, easier to maintain without focus. Cassie was beginning to truly relax.

Something completely unexpected happened, causing Ruby to stare. After a few moments from when she sat down, Cassie had actually begun to glow just like Ren and Yatsu, 'How odd,' she thought. But it didn't stop there. Her friend's aura began to glow brighter than the others, reminiscent of when Cassie's semblance was active. After about thirty seconds of aura glow, it started to take shape, forming what appeared to be dragons. They began circling her body, eventually removing themselves from the aura entirely, and begun to circle Ruby.

Ruby could only stare in awe. She wasn't scared of the dragons as they were acting almost like pets at this point, one even rubbing itself under Ruby's open palm. She could feel it, to. It was not just an illusion, it was tangible. Ruby looked over at the dragons' creator to see something odd start forming on her back. She was had no clue what it was at first, but she began to see them take the form of wings. Like the ones on the dragons.

When they fully formed, the began flapping and Cassie was lifted off the ground, in her oblivious state. Ruby gasped quite loudly at the site causing everything created by Cassie to disappear. It was loud enough to bring her out of her trance, she managed to open her eyes before she hit the ground, well she never actually made it. Instead, her face was an inch from the ground, and on said ground were rose petals, familiar rose petals.

"Caughtcha!" said Ruby.

"Whoa, how the Hell did this happen?" asked Cassie, "How? Why was I in the air?"

"Well, you, managed to enter like the really cool glowy thing that Ren and Yatsu are doing right now, but then it got even brighter. Then you made some really cute mini dragons and I think they liked me, and after that you, like made wings on your back and that was, like super awesome! That was so cool! How did you do it?!" asked Ruby excitedly.

"I did what now? Damn that's cool. All I felt was like, really relaxed, and I never knew I was even doing any of that stuff. Man that sounds cool!" responded Cassie.

"Wait, your semblance is aura based right?" asked Ruby.

"Yeah… Oh, let me try to stand," said Cassie.

Ruby set Cassie on her feet, but Cassie didn't fall.

"Hey, I'm standing!" exclaimed Cassie.

"Maybe try to walk?" asked Ruby.

"Sure thing," said Cassie as she tried. She did try but as she removed the pressure off the second foot her knees began to buckle.

"Shit!" cursed Cassie as she began to fall, only for Ruby to catch her yet again.

"You're lucky I'm always here to catch you," stated Ruby.

"Yes I am, thanks," said Cassie, "Guess I can't walk yet per se, but maybe I'll be able to use a walker or something."

"Maybe, wanna call up Angela?" asked Ruby.

"Sure," responded Cassie.

The two left the room, leaving a note telling Ren and Yatsu where they were as to not worry them. Although Cassie had regained some strength, she could not walk on her own, so for the time being Cassie remained in the wheelchair. What was surprising is that Cassie had woken up only a few days ago, and she had regained a large amount of her strength back. They made their way over to the apartment that Team Lavender was staying at for the time being. As Angela was Mistralian it was her address they were heading to.

"Cassandra, it is great to see you," greeted Angela as the door was opened, "What brings you around?"

"Well, ya see I got some of my strength back so I was wondering if we could have an impromptu physio session?" asked Cassie.

"Sure, let's head over to the gym, or what I call a gym," said Angela.

The trio headed over to the supposed gym, if you could call it supposed. It was practically equipped with everything one person could ever need to just work out, but not body build.

"Now since you supposedly gained your strength, let's see what those legs can do. Hop on over here, and let you're arms support you a little," said Angela.

"Sure thing," said Cassie, getting up, albeit slowly. Very slowly, but she did manage to stand on her own. "Ruby, you mind helping me over to the bar?"

"Yup," said Ruby helping her friend over to the bar located on the wall. They made it there soon enough and Cassie grabbed onto the bar with her left arm and she readied herself.

"Alright Cassandra, try walking with the aid of that bar. See how far you can make it, if you make it to the end, then you've walked about ten feet," said Angela.

"Alright, here goes nothing," stated Cassie, taking her first step with the help of the bar.

"One done, the rest to go," said Cassie as she completed the first step.

She completed seven more steps before stopping for a ten second rest. "Damn this is tiring," stated Cassie.

"You're doing great!" said Ruby.

"She's right, normally no one would be able to even complete one step at this point in the recovery process. At this rate by next week, you should be able to start training again, and by that I mean your usual regimen," said Angela.

Cassie took ten steps this time, before stopping, "You really thing that, this is killing me so far," she said.

"Cassandra, you should be regaining your strength at a relatively quick manner, normal it takes about twenty-five days for a person to recover, four percent per day. You were able to stand of your own volition. This is the fourth day. I'd say it takes about twenty-five percent of your standard energy level to stand up, and get up on your own. Normally that action takes very little energy, but without that normal one hundred percent standard, it takes quite a bit more effort to even complete normal tasks. You've been recovering at a very rapid pace, and that's incredible. Hold on, let me check some aura readings," said Angela grabbing a scroll.

"Wow, this is quite surprising, your aura levels are oscillating around the twenty-five percent mark, that does make sense, but to have recovered that much already is quite fascinating indeed," stated Angela.

"You should have seen Cassie earlier, she made some awesome stuff when she was meditating," said Ruby.

"What do you mean?" asked Angela.

"Oh, she made some cute dragons and stuff, and she even grew wings on her back, it was so cool!" said Ruby.

"This was like your semblance?" asked Angela.

"Ruby said it was, I have no clue," responded Cassie.

"Yup, had the same glow and everything," said Ruby.

"Interesting," said Angela, "When in the meditation did this happen?"

"Um, after Cassie entered the like, really like, not-really-in-noticing-state, I sat down beside her, and after a little while, her aura started to glow, and then it got really, really bright, then she made the things I said earlier," said Ruby in a single breath.

"Interesting," said Angela again.

"You already said that," said Cassie.

"I know," replied Angela.

"Okay, is there anything else that I need to do, or is that it?" asked Cassie, or rather panted Cassie.

"Not at this moment," responded Angela, "Although, Opal might want to see the two of you, she has some dust that she'd like to share. Her workshop is just down the hall."

"Thanks Angela, see ya," said Cassie. Ruby helped Cassie into the wheelchair and they made their way to the workshop. They decided it would be a good ideal to knock as to not completely surprise Opal.

"Opal, it's Cass and Ruby. Angela said you have some dust to show us," said Cassie knocking on the door.

The door opened on it's own, with Opal's voice shouting, "Come in!"

"Heya ladies, I got something real special that I've been working on," said Opal as the two girls entered.

"What is it?" asked both the girls.

"Why, it's called Opal dust, yeah I know. Gotta come up with a better name, anyways, this stuff here, it is very aura reliant, well it has to be to do what it does. You see this orb I have in my hand?" asked Opal.

"Yup," said both girls.

"I also have a smaller item that was created at around the same time as this orb, so they have a connection with each other, and now I'm putting this orb here down, and I'll walk over to you guys," she said following what she said.

"Now you see the little piece that was from the orb, I'm gonna pulse my aura directly into it, now keep an eye on me," she ordered. Before flaring her aura, and then she wasn't there anymore.

"What the Hell?!" exclaimed Cassie.

"She's gone, where could she have gone?" asked Ruby.

"Over here!" shouted Opal from where she placed the orb.

"How!" exclaimed both Ruby and Cassie.

"Dust! That's how! Awesome isn't it?" asked Opal.

"That's cool Opal, can you tell us how it works?" asked Cassie.

"It's pretty self-explanatory. These orbs were made by charging aura into them, and charging more aura into them makes them want to reconnect. It's basically reconnecting itself while burning through its power to bring you along, so it's a one time use. I've made it so one size works with all, so that's helpful. As long as your mass does not exceed one hundred kilograms, you should be fine," said Opal, "So wanna try it out Ruby?"

"Me?" asked Ruby.

"Yeah you, Cassie can't really try it, but you could. Here," she said handing Ruby a set of the 'Opal Dust'.

"Alright so hold the small thing and throw the orb. It can take a beating, trust me," said Opal, looking at Ruby expectantly.

Ruby complied tossing the orb over to the other side of the room.

"Good, now concentrate a little bit of aura into the little piece," instructed Opal.

Ruby did so, and as expected ended up on the other side of the room.

"Perfect now next toss it into the air and jump. While in the air charge you're aura into the little piece again," instructed Opal handing Ruby another set of 'Opal Dust'.

Ruby lightly tossed the orb up and jumped when the orb was at it's peak, charging her aura like expected. This time though, the jump was continued through the so-called teleportation maintaining her inertia. She landed and was shocked.

"How?" asked Ruby.

"Well you see, that's a result of my laziness and I think it's a good thing. I wasn't able to think of a way to get the Dust to dissipate the kinetic energy from you're body without harming anything so instead it does nothing to that energy allowing you to follow through with whatever action you were doing without any interruption. Cool, right?"

"I never doubted you for a second Opal," said Cassie.

"Totally Sandy," replied Opal.

"Sandy?" asked Ruby.

"It's a nickname for our blonde friend over there. There's also Sass, Sassy, C, Sandra, CS, Blue eyes, you get the picture," said Opal.

"That's a lot of nicknames," said Ruby.

"That happens when your name is long Ruby," replied Cassie.

"I guess that makes sense, not many people call you by your full name," said Ruby.

"It is a mouthful. Hey Opal, thanks for the arm," said Cassie.

"No problem Sassy," said Opal, "Ruby, take good care of her 'kay."

"Sure thing," replied Ruby.

 _One Week Later,_

"Hey Opal," greeted Cassie as she knocked on the door to the workshop, "Are you in?"

The door opened on it's own as usual, so Cassie and Ruby, who took her word of taking care of Cassie to heart, stepped in.

"Wouldya look at that, you're walking again," stated Opal, "Oh, didn't think Rosie over here would be taller than you."

"Hey!"

"We're not here to compare height Opal, and you of all people can't say anything. You're shorter than me," stated Cassie.

"You're the one who's sensitive about it," stated Opal, "Anyway, I can guess why you're here, you're gonna ask me to make you a new sword."

"How did you know?" asked Cassie.

"I know we talk a lot now, but it's kinda been obvious that you'd be needing a new weapon soon due to the fact that you keep losing or breaking it. Plus, I'm the only one you trust to make you a new one," said Opal.

"That's true, I don't trust Atlas to make me high quality weapons, they aren't you," said Cassie.

"I'm surprised you haven't asked Ruby, she's really good with weapons," said Opal.

"I did, and she's already started drafting up plans to make it as she said, 'Super Awesome and stuff,'" said Cassie, "And you're very good at making my replacements since you have to schematic to the original."

"That is true," said Opal, "And you're in luck. I've already made it," stated Opal.

"Wait, really?" asked Cassie.

"You betcha! By the way it can now compress without giving up any structural integrity, or it's ability to flex," said Opal, "Oh, side note, do you know how to wield an Odachi?"

"Yeah, I'm familiar with most two-handed blade styles that aren't Atlesian or Valenese," said Cassie.

"Good," said Opal tossing Cassie a familiar looking Katana.

"It looks the same," stated Cassie.

"Here, load in a dust clip and use the new magnetic field function from your left arm," said Opal.

Cassie complied grasping her Katana in an overhead guard. She activated the magnetic field causing the grip to extend as well as extending the blade with dust. She repeated the same step causing the process to reverse.

"Damn, that'll be useful. No one will expect that. The extra mass and reach should be able to throw them off," stated Cassie.

"That's pretty effective," said Ruby, "It's not over the top, and your arm is able to handle things at range anyways."

"Yup, that's why I don't have an all-in-one weapon," said Cassie.

"Cassie, I know you're not big on like guns 'cause of ammo capacity, but I know you enjoy a good round of speedball, so I made you this," said Opal presenting Cassie with a small case.

Cassie opened the case revealing a firearm similar to that of the speedball marker she used on field. It was black with blue highlights to match her colour style and she like it.

"This is awesome, but what about the hopper and tank?" asked Cassie.

"The what now?" asked Ruby.

"Well, this puppy doesn't need a tank, but I did realize you need it for stability, so a lightweight placebo tank can be found behind you. It's really light and compressible so it can be placed on the hip holster. The loader on the other hand cannot be compressed because it's holding dust rounds, custom by the way. It's basically your standard electric loader. The reason why I made you're Katana compressible is to make room for everything like Pods to load your gun. Wanna test it out?" asked Opal.

"Oh, you bet," said Cassie.

The three made their way over to the training range in Haven and Cassie got herself ready to go. She donned her standard gear, blade, new gun and all. She drew her gun and began walking the trigger against a set of enemies, completely decimating them in seconds due to rate of fire. The loader began flashing red signalling low ammo. Without stopping firing, Cassie dropped her right hand to the Pod pack on her back, grabbing one and loading it into the loader without stopping her hail of fire.

"Damn this thing fires well," said Cassie after emptying the loader.

"How did you do that?" asked Ruby.

"Do what?" asked Cassie.

"Reload, but not stop," said Ruby.

"Oh, that's standard for speedballers. We can keep firing while reloading, and it's awesome. It took a lot of practice to get where I am, but it is certainly really helpful. Now I don't have to stop firing, I can just keep on raining dust upon my enemies," said Cassie proudly.

"Can I try?" asked Ruby.

"Sure, now this isn't like a regular rifle that you shoulder, I put the tank on my shoulder and aim down the barrel. To shoot like I did, just alternate two fingers over the trigger. Again, not a standard rifle trigger, it's really light and has a double trigger. Go knock yourself out," said Cassie.

Ruby had let her marksman skills take over, but they did not help her with Cassie's new weapon. Cassie's style of fire was to fire enough shots to make sure she landed hits, rather than making every shot count. It did help that she had a large supply of ammo. Ruby managed to hit all the targets slower, but wasting less ammo.

"Good job Ruby. Only thing is, don't worry about wasting ammo when firing this thing, that's why each of these pods hold like one hundred twenty-five to thirty shots," stated Cassie.

"So that's why you didn't care about ammo count," said Ruby.

"Yup, pretty cool isn't it," said Cassie.

"You say this is a sport? Like there are fields where we can do something like this?" asked Ruby.

"Yeah," said Cassie.

"You gotta take me sometime Cassie! Please!" Ruby practically begged.

"Sure, thing Ruby, when we get the chance I'll be sure to take you," responded Cassie.

"New weapon?" said a new voice from where Opal used to be standing.

"Hey Yang," responded the duo.

"Hey, Ladies. So what's the with the new fire power?" asked Yang.

"Well, normally I'm pretty useless at long ranges, but this baby over here gives me more viability and adaptability," responded Cassie.

"It's not Ruby's?" asked Yang.

"Nope," said Cassie and Ruby.

"How are you two doing that?" asked Yang

"Doing what?" said the duo.

"Finishing talking at the same time, there's gotta be some pretty good chemistry between you two," stated Yang.

"I guess we're just in sync," they answered.

"Seems that way. Anyways, I was actually looking for you Cassie. I know you've been pretty hurt for a while, but your hair is the true victim in all of this, look at it. My, my, do not fret Cassie, for Yang is here to help!" she exclaimed dragging Cassie away, leaving Ruby with Cassie's new weapon.

"This is a disaster Cassie! All we need to do is trim a little to get rid of those split ends, then a good wash is in order," said Yang.

"Um, thanks, but is there a reason you dragged me down here apart from my hair?" asked Cassie.

"Well one, you're hair is pretty awesome, almost like mine in fact. Also, you've been hanging around Ruby so much that I haven't been that much of a big sister lately, so you're the next best option," responded Yang.

"Thanks, I guess," said Cassie as she sat down to allow Yang to do her thing.

Yang had started trimming the ends of Cassie's mane of hair. "Wow, never though your hair would be so thick. So, you've been around Ruby a lot, and it's great that she's making friends, but from your personality I thought that Wiess, or Velvet would be more your style," said Yang.

"Well, Ruby just gives off this whole vibe of happiness and it's great. Wiess is nice, heh heh, but I don't get that feeling with her or Velvet. Plus, I told her I'd stick around her, so that's what I'm doing," stated Cassie.

"You are incredibly different then the people I usually talk with. You're like super tough, and your personality around others is basically the same thing, but around us you're more open and that's great. I've seen you talk, or try and leave conversations with the kids around Haven. I guess you don't like talking that much, but with us you don't care. You still don't talk a lot, but its obvious that you say more to us than to others," said Yang.

"Thanks, Yang. How come you're putting so much care into this, most people would've just not cared," asked Cassie.

"One, I consider you pretty close to me 'cause of the stuff you've done for me and Ruby. And the fact that you're not pushing us away. You made sure Ruby didn't feel bad about what happened, the same can't be said for some people. I learned that survivor's guilt is a pretty shitty feeling, but you made sure Ruby didn't have to face the brunt of it. This is the least I can do after that, so please let me do this for you," said Yang.

"Okay…"

After Yang finished the trimming she mentioned that Cassie would have to go in the bath to get her hair washed.

"You sure you want to see what's under the shirt?" asked Cassie, "It's not pretty, believe me."

"I'm not gonna judge Cassie, we've been through this," responded Yang.

"Fine, just don't look," said Cassie.

"Well, I'll try my best," said Yang with a wink.

Cassie disrobed to her undergarments, crossing her arms over her breasts to cover them.

"You know those scars are hot, right?" asked Yang.

Cassie looked away and blushed, shocked at Yang's comment.

"I'm not gonna ask where those came from, I understand that they're probably a sore subject. Listen, those aren't gonna scare me away. If they scare anyone away then they're not worth your time," said Yang, "Now let's wash those luscious locks!"

Washing Cassie's hair was a simple task since Yang was so used to washing her own hair. Eventually Cassie was sitting cross-legged on the bed with Yang braiding her hair.

"Man, this looks good," said Yang, "I'm so gonna teach you how to braid your hair."

"Thanks, Yang. It's been fun. We should do this again sometime," said Cassie.

"Definitely. By the way, I know who you're crushing on," stated Yang casually.

"I don't know what you're talking about," responded Cassie too quickly.

"It's obvious it's not me, so that leaves Ruby, Nora and Wiess, the three people you hang out with most. Nora's not you're type, too hyper and you've already said that Wiess isn't your type either. And that leaves Ruby, my baby sister," stated Yang.

"No comment," stated Cassie.

"Keep telling yourself that, but it's fine. I can tell that you'll do her no wrong, and you're to shy to tell her anyways," said Yang.

"Am not!"

"You weren't afraid to ask me for a tampon, yet you couldn't bring yourself to ask Ruby who was right next to you. She woulda' done it in a heart beat. I may not have known you for very long, but I'll respect whatever decision you make," said Yang.

"You're not gonna kill me?" asked Cassie.

"Nope. I've become to fond of you to do that," she replied.

"Thanks, Yang. You're like the big sister I never had," said Cassie.

"That means a lot Cassie, thank you. Any who let's get some dinner, I'm sure you're missing Ruby!" exclaimed Yang, bolting out of the room.

 **I'm so sorry for not posting in a while, mock exams and robotics have taken up so much of my time recently, and with real exams in May, I probably won't be writing consistently for like at least another month.**

 **If you've stuck around this far thanks for reading, I know I update randomly, but at least I'm powering through it, speaking of the second arc's plot has almost been completed so expect those soon.**

 **Thoughts, criticism? Tell me anything, if you liked it or hated it, what I can do to get better, it all helps.**

 **-Peace, Myrillis**


	13. P2C1: Battle of the Harbour

**Hey, I know it's been a while but while there are no excuses for my absense, there are reasons behind it. I should have dedicated more time to this, and after returning to it after a terrible sickness, I finally feel that I'm ready to come back. Now I also have something else in the works, but I'm still in discussion about that. Funny thing is that this was written quite quickly, literally today the second of October. I prefer writing in these more miniscule set of boxes and creating more of them than the larger boxies I used to write in. Frankly it makes writing easier for me, but if you have any suggestions or critiscm, HMU, I'll be glad to listen and hopefully improve because of it.**

 **Part Two: (Battle of the Harbour)**

Ruby and Cassie took off running towards the harbour which was about a half-kilometre away. They had been looking to replenish their dust supplies before the explosions started. Fortunately, the two kept their weapons on them, so there was no need for backtracking. As they neared, more explosions sounded. They resonated throughout the air, not powerful enough to cause tremors, but it did mean they were nearing. The girls needed to get there, quick.

"We're getting close Ruby. Get Crescent Rose ready, we might be in for a fight," said Cassie.

"Got it," said Ruby, unholstering her beloved scythe-sniper. Cassie brought out her gun, ready to rain fire if needed.

As they neared the harbour, the explosions stopped, but it was replaced with gunfire. The Atlesians Winter had brought had posted themselves in a position to eliminate the imminent threat, alongside the Mistrialian military. As the duo arrived they caught a glimpse of Winter and went after her.

"Winter, what's happening?!" asked Cassie.

"Yeah, it seems pretty bad," said Ruby.

"Your assumption would be correct. A fishing vessel appears to be sought after by a warship. We do not know what that warship contains, but we do believe it intends to cause harm, so we will not allow it to do so. The issue as of now is that none of our forces have the resilience of Hunters apart from you two and myself, therefore I believe that it would be best if you were to extract the passengers aboard the fishing vessel while we keep the warship at bay," said Winter.

"We got this, right Ruby?" asked Cassie.

"Yeah we do!" the reaper exclaimed, "Let's go save some people!"

The two sprinted over to the dock, weapons holstered as this was an extraction mission. The target was a sizeable fishing boat, yet it was tiny when compared to it's predator. From what they could make out, there were three passengers.

"Okay, we have to get onto that boat," said Cassie.

"Yeah, I can carry two people with my semblance, so you'll grab the other?" asked Ruby.

"Will do," said Cassie retrieving an Opal dust crystal, placing the receiver on the dock, and loading the activator into a socket in her palm, specially made by Opal. As Ruby grabbed her two passengers, Cassie dashed over to the boat as it had finally come near enough for her to reach it. By then Ruby was already on the dock waiting for her return.

She combat-rolled as she landed, looking for the final passenger. She saw them at the wheel of the boat. He was a monkey faunus with blonde hair and a blonde tail.

"Hey, you!" she shouted.

"Who are you?!" he responded.

"One of the two sent to get you off this boat," she responded, "Now ditch the boat, and let's get moving!"

"Yes ma'am!" he said, clearly scared of the girl.

"Grab on, you might feel a little dizzy after this," she said as he put his arms around her. She activated the crystal, teleporting her and her companion over to the dock. She was met with the chameleon faunus, whom she recognised, but a cat faunus whom she did not.

"You," growled the cat faunus.

"What?" was all Cassie could say as the cat faunus charged her, appearing behind her. Luckily Cassie caught the blade before it could do anything.

"Wait, Blake stop!" shouted Ruby.

"Stay back Ruby, this girl's dangerous!" Blake shouted back, kicking off of Cassie.

"Okay girlie, I don't know who you are, but I do recognise that blade. I'm guessing you'd like a rematch, but we can do that at Haven-" said Cassie before she was cut off by another slash. This time she drew her own blade to defend herself.

"Can we not do this now!" shouted Cassie.

"I will not let any harm come to my friends," said Blake, "Ilia! Sun! Take Ruby and go!"

"Hey wait-" Ruby tried to say as the two faunus grabbed her and ran towards the Atlesian-Mistralian barrier.

"I guess you really wanna do this don't you," said Cassie blocking another strike.

"You will not harm them!" shouted Blake throwing Gambol Shroud at Cassie, who ducked under the attack and ran towards Blake. She then dashed towards Blake to counter the return of the weapon. As she tackled the cat faunus she tossed an Opal dust crystal up to a flat roof and teleported them up there.

"Now we can make sure people don't get hurt," said Cassie.

"I was already making sure that didn't happen," Blake responded.

"It looked like you were ready to do what you had to in order to take me down," said Cassie.

"I still am," she said, "With your abilities I feel as though you pose a major threat to me and my friends, so I will give you this one opportunity to leave."

"No can do," responded Cassie, "Not after what I promised Ruby."

Not responding, Blake chose to attack first. Unexpected, but not unseen, Cassie decided to fight defensively as Ruby knew the girl she was fighting. It would cause less hassle later anyways. Cassie could see that her opponent was fighting emotionally rather than logically.

The exchanges were in no one's favour as Cassie wasn't really attacking, and Blake was becoming more and more predictable as she let her emotions get the better of her. Blake lunged forward cutting through air this time which threw her off balance causing her to almost fall.

Cassie had dashed towards a blind spot she saw in Blake's vision. Something the faunus normally would have countered, which was why Cassie was surprised. She still took the opportunity to grab the ribbon from Gambol Shroud and pull, disarming Blake and causing her to fall over.

"Listen if you want to fight me that's fine, but you seem exhausted and to emotional to win here," said Cassie, sheathing Blake's weapon, "I'd rather you be at a hundred percent when you fight me, your gonna burn out before I even attack you at this rate."

Blake shocked Cassie yet again by pouncing on her.

"Sun, what are you doing! Let me go!" shouted Ruby at her captor.

"Ruby, we can't go back. That girl's bad news," he responded.

"She's the one who got you off that boat!" Ruby screamed.

"Don't listen to her Sun, that girl is dangerous," said the third passenger of the boat.

Ruby had no idea what to do. Sun was her friend and she didn't want to hurt him, and so was Blake, yet her newfound friend was found on the wrong side of their barrel. Even though she only knew Cassie for a few weeks, Ruby learned of the many hardships she faced. Blake had run away though. She trusted Blake, but she didn't know whether to trust her decisions. From what she could see, Sun would follow what Blake ordered, and she assumed the same for the newcomer.

Ruby finally made her decision. She wrenched herself free from the two faunus, and made a break for the roof tops. She knew Sun would never hurt her, and that he would make sure his companion would do the same, so she was not worried about getting hurt. She also knew that they had no chance of catching her, but she just had not clue where she was.

Yang and Wiess had been making their way over to the harbour ever since the explosions first started. Haven being far enough away that a Bullhead service was implemented had Yang and Wiess running for a good stretch of time. Yang was beginning to get fed up with all the people crowding the area. Wiess was able to keep her calm, which did help.

"Damn it!" shouted Yang, "Get out of my way!"

"Yang, please calm down," pleaded Wiess, "I know Ruby was near the harbour, but she had Cassandra with her."

"I know that, but she's my sister, I have to worry," said Yang, "You better be okay Ruby."

"Yang, Ruby is incredibly strong and has determination like no other. I'm certain that she'll be okay," said Wiess, "Don't forget who's with her. Cassandra is one of the greatest fighters that I've seen and from what you've told me, she's fiercely loyal. Don't doubt them."

"Thanks, Wiess," said Yang, "You're right, I gotta believe in them. You're a good friend Wiess, don't let my teasing tell you otherwise."

"You're not so bad yourself Xiao Long," replied Wiess.

The two continued pushing through the crowd, making progress albeit slow progress. Yang was getting increasingly more frustrated as the crowd became larger. That made moving even more difficult. Moving against the crowd made it tougher for the two huntresses-in-training to push forward. As movement finally worked its way to a standstill Yang had an idea.

"Hey, Ice Queen, let's get up to the roof," said Yang, "It's way faster than down here."

"Sure thing," said Wiess using her glyphs to reach the roof. Yang took a different approach, that is to say using her gauntlets to propel herself upwards. The two reached the roof in under five seconds and took off towards the harbour. Moving on the rooftops was much quicker on ground and gave them more freedom of movement. With no walls or people in their way, the only thing stopping them would be missing a jump, but they were too experienced for that.

As they jumped roof to roof they saw two figures fighting in the distance. It seemed as though they were locked in a standstill.

"Hey Wiess, I'll handle this, get to the harbour," said Yang.

"Okay Yang, be careful," said Wiess.

"You got it Princess," Yang said with a wink.

Wiess continued towards the harbour without Yang and saw that things were beginning to worsen. There were soldiers retreating with varying amounts of injuries. From what she could see, there were no fatalities… yet. The legions of soldiers still looked impressive. Volleys of perfectly synchronised bullets showed the prowess of the Atlas army. She found a small gap in the lines and made her way through to the front. She kept moving and eventually ran into team CFVY.

"Wiess, shit's gettin' bad. We can use all the help we can get," said Coco.

"What's happening Coco?" asked Wiess.

"Well a huge White Fang warship has made its way over and it's bombarding the shore with troops and gunfire. Atlas has setup some barriers that seem to be holding up, but their making no progress in pushing back the Fang," responded Coco.

"How many Hunters do we have right now?" asked Wiess.

"As of now we only have a handful hunters including those in training, we don't have enough for a push," said Velvet.

"Is my sister here?" asked Wiess.

"The entire operation is being led by Schnee senior," said Fox.

"Then let's find her," said Wiess.

The five saw what looked to be an Atlas mobile headquarters. It was quite surprising being that it had barely been an hour since the beginning of the battle. It was either Winter's quick wits or Atlas's responsiveness capabilities. Soldiers were walking in and out in and orderly fashion, surprising for the amount of people there were. They entered the building and made their way to the command centre where they saw the elder Schnee overlooking the entire operation.

"Winter what is required of us?" asked Wiess as she walked over to her sister.

"I see that you have with you four others with aura, that will indeed be useful in this battle. We're fighting with limited resources and limited huntsmen, so any person who can fight and has aura is needed greatly. We had two others, Ruby Rose and Cassandra Aotatsu, but Rose's whereabouts are unknown and Cassandra appears to be locked in battle and I cannot spare any resources to help her or her friend. That being said, that is not your mission. You are needed as support. Wiess, your summons are reliable as of now, correct?" asked Winter, to which Wiess nodded curtly, "Good, now team CFVY, you are to escort Wiess towards the warship. You must not let her exert herself as her summons are very reliant on aura and physical stamina. It is her job to take down the ship. Am I understood?"

"Yes ma'am," they responded in unison

"Good, now I wish I did not have to send you out there… You are all far too young, yet it is a necessity brought on by the times. First the battle of Beacon, now this… I trust that you will have this under control. Now, get out there and be heroes!" exclaimed Winter.

Cassie forced Blake off her with a two-footed kick to her abdomen, which sent the girl flying. Blake recovered quickly and charged yet again, this time Cassie was prepared and redirected Blake's momentum forcing the faunus to head straight to the ground.

"Hey, we don't have to do this, we're on the same side… I think," said Cassie as she backed away from her foe.

"How would you know what I fight for, you probably just take orders and fight for whoever you work for," said Blake getting up from, "I don't know what you did to convince Ruby that you're good, but I'll make sure to show her what you truly are."

"She's already seen what I truly am…" said Cassie, "But you will not take her away from me. Not after everything I did to make it back. Just make this easy, I don't want to hurt you. I really don't- Your just making it really hard 'cause you won't stop. She told me about you, I thought you'd be less judgemental than Wiess, but I guess I was wrong. People change Blake, just because we fought doesn't mean we have to stay enemies. Hell, you're the one who started this whole fight."

"I needed to get you away from the people I care about," responded Blake.

"Why, did I look at you funny? Did I have my weapon drawn? I thought you were familiar, but I didn't care. You and your crew needed help, and I helped Ruby do just that. I just don't understand. We can just let this go," said Cassie, removing Blake's weapon from her back, "Don't make me regret this, right now we should be helping those people push back the White Fang."

Cassie tossed the weapon over to Blake and she caught it with ease. The faunus girl looked over her weapon and began thinking about the choices she made so far. Running away from her friends, the ones who dedicated themselves to her. Fleeing to Menagerie, hoping to reconcile when in reality she just couldn't bring herself to face those she brought pain to. She thought about how her judgement had become so rash that she had just attacked the girl who helped save her friend Sun, all because of her past. She thought that she of all people should know that people were capable of change. She thought of her time in Menagerie, no matter how short had changed her. She had seen the terrifying side of humans once more, but did not even think to remember that humans aren't all the same, that one group is not representative of the whole. That was the way she wished for her fellow faunus to be treated, yet she had become what she feared.

"You're right… Oh Oum, what have I become?" questioned Blake, "I passed judgement over you so quickly because of what happened in the past. I created a villain in you in order to justify my actions. I became just like the humans that I hated. I became like Adam…"

"Hey, Blake, right?" asked Cassie to which Blake nodded, "We all make mistakes. We all have your moments that we're not proud of. Oum knows I have a shit tonne of those. But that doesn't mean you put yourself down because of them. You learn and you grow. That's all there is to it. Now, this harbour is under siege, and we gotta be the ones to stop it. You ready?"

Cassie reached her hand forward as a sign of peace. Blake sheathed her weapon and accepted it graciously.

"Now that's really cute," blurted out a new voice.

"Yang?!" shouted the duo.

"Yeah, it's me, so you mind fillin' me in on what just… BLAKE!" shouted Yang.

"Yang, I'm so so sorry," said Blake dropping to her knees.

"Hey," said Yang as she dashed over to her partner's side, making sure to place her left hand on her friend's shoulder, "We can talk about this later, alright?"

"Yang… your arm…" said Blake.

"It's awesome, I know," responded Yang, "Not as cool as her's though," she said pointing her thumb at Cassie.

"Hey, I don't mean to interrupt this tender moment, but we should really get moving," said Cassie.

She grabbed her mask which was compressed on her back and placed it over her face. She input a command through buttons on the side of the mask and began overlooking the harbour.

"There are only five aura users engaged in active combat," said Cassie, "Four appear to be defending one. Hold on that might be Wiess… Winter what the Hell were you thinking!"

"What's wrong?" asked Yang.

"Well, knowing Winter Schnee and seeing how spread thin the Mistralian and Atlesian armies are, Winter's sending the only thing that has enough power to take out that warship," said Cassie, "That thing would be a summon, and since Winter can't leave her post without sacrificing critical thinking as she's the one heading this whole Mistral operation. Wiess, and I are both capable of summons, mine is more physically taxing, her's is more aura taxing. She can pack a bigger punch, but from what I know about Winter, she won't be able to keep it goin'. Since I focused a lot on stamina training, I could theoretically last longer. I was also not there to be selected anyways. Well, let's get down there."

"Okay," said Yang, "Let's kick some ass!"

"The White Fang have already made Vale fall, I will not let another city fall to their hands," said Blake.

Cassie and the three jumped down from the roof and into the fray. Cassie decided to call Ruby since she had no clue what happened to her friend. She picked up.

"Ruby, are you alright?!" asked Cassie.

"Yeah, just running from Sun and the other girl," responded Ruby.

"Blake get on a conference call with your pals, tell them to back off Ruby!" yelled Cassie, "Scratch that, get everyone on comms."

"Will be done," said Blake joining the comm channel, "Sun, Ilia, I don't have much time to explain, just stop chasing Ruby and head to the harbour."

"Yeah guys, stop chasing me!" yelled Ruby.

"Blake what the Hell's goin' on!" yelled Sun.

"Change of plan, we can't lose this harbour to the White Fang," responded Blake, "We only have eight hunters, us total. We need all three of you guys now!"

"Blake, you owe us an explanation for this later," said Ilia.

"Yes, I do, now just get over here and help us," responded Blake.

The three pushed their way towards the five-man team that was currently making their way over to the boat, although quite slowly. As they neared their friends the amount of soldiers just kept increasing.

"Alright that's enough," said Cassie, "You two watch my back, I can't afford to take to much physical damage."

"Cass, what are you doing?" asked Yang while punching a soldier.

Cassie then channelled her aura into a smaller being than the ones she summoned during the battle against the Nuckelavee. It took the shape of a woman clad in dragonesque armour, donning a helmet reminiscent of the horns of a dragon.

Cassie yelled in anguish as her summon began punching every enemy soldier in its path. Her summon continued with its barrage of unstoppable punches as its master continued forwards. The three were able to continue forward with this formation, nothing able to stop them. They were like a wall that fought back.

"Wiess-cream, what's the plan?" yelled Yang.

"I need my all the aura I can get to sustain my summon… speaking of Cassandra can you summon something larger to aide me?" asked Wiess

"I might be able to, but I'm close to runnin' on fumes," responded Cassie.

"Does that matter?" asked Wiess.

"My summons are based on my stamina, not aura, so I'm not too sure if I'll be able to after another fight," said Cassie punching another White Fang soldier.

A Fang soldier managed to break through the CFVY defence, and right next to Wiess, who was facing away from the front. He would have landed a massive hit if it weren't for Blake who stepped in just in time.

"Blake?!" exclaimed Wiess.

"Yes, I'm back," responded Blake, "Now I know you have a lot of questions, and so do the others, but now is not the time."

"Well, I'll hold you to that, Belladonna," Wiess said gruffly.

The impromptu Wiess defense force aka team CFVY was starting to run out of energy. Not just having to defend themselves, but also protect the precious cargo. Fox's blades were beginning to dull. Yatsuhashi's strength was beginning to wane since logically most of the Fang soldiers went after the largest target. Coco, wasn't faring much better, having run out of ammo, she was using the mass of her handbag to bat soldiers away. Velvet was running out of weapon projections to use.

"Coco! We'll sub out for you!" shouted Yang as they approached.

"You're a life saver Xiao-Long!" replied Coco, "Wait is that Belladonna?!"

"Yes, listen you guys are runnin' on fumes, we'll talk about this later," said Yang.

"Fine be me, CFVY, retreat!" yelled Coco, and her team followed their orders. The new defenders took up their positions.

"Alright ladies, let's get Wiess-cream, to that ship so she can do some damage!" yelled Yang.

"Gotcha," said Cassie.

"Will do," responded Blake,

Cassie took point with her summon, with the other two taking up the rear, surrounding Wiess, forming an impenetrable wall of defense. At this point the girls were about fifty meters from the warship, and making quick work of the dwindling Fang soldiers.

"Wiess, get ready," said Cassie, "We'll be there in maybe a minute!" shouted Cassie over her shoulder as her summon ploughed through more soldiers.

"Charging now Cassandra," replied Wiess.

Within the minute they arrived at the warship, when Cassie gave the signal and Wiess unleashed a giant knight that stood about five storeys tall. It charged its way through the warship, splitting it in half.

"Damn Wiess, you made quick work of that thing!" exclaimed Yang.

"Wiess watch out!" shouted Blake and Cassie as a hulking figure pulled itself from one of the halves. It revealed itself as a robot of Atlesian design, like a more humanoid Paladin, but much larger and much deadlier. Wiess prepared her Knight to defend itself from a strike. Even with that preparation the mech managed to push the Knight back a few dozen metres. The mech pulled itself out of the warship and extended itself to its full height. It stood taller than even Wiess's Knight, at around seven storeys tall. Its legs were more human than the original Paladin and its arms had the same weapons as the original. It threw a punch towards the Knight, which it parried with its blade. Wiess's Knight was more agile than the mech, but it was not nearly as powerful as the mech. Trading blows was getting Wiess nowhere.

"Hey, I see a cockpit on the mech!" shouted Cassie, "If we take out the pilot, we take out the mech!"

"Okay, look…" said Yang, "Someone's gotta take care of Wiess, Blake I don't know if I can trust you yet, but please take care of her."

"I'll make sure to do so," responded Blake, "We'll talk after this okay?"

"Okay Blake," said Yang, "Cassie, ya think you can get us up there?"

"Please, Yang. I'm not as weak as I look," she said putting her are around Yang's waist.

"Woah, being a little forward there Cass, didn't know you could get so touchy with someone who's not Ruby," teased Yang.

Cassie glared at her tormentor before releasing her waist. She launched her arm up to the top of the mech and started pulling herself up, and as she did so, she grabbed Yang's collar.

Yang yelped as she was pulled up by the collar, not feeling very stable as they flew up towards the top of the mech.

"Cassie, I'm sorry!" she screamed as she was flung from side to side as the mech moved. Cassie dropped Yang, and she screamed bloody murder, until she felt an arm around her waist and the sensation that she was moving upwards.

"I will never tease you again," stated Yang.

"Don't make a girl a promise you can't keep," quipped Cassie.

They were sill swaying as the giant mech moved, but it was nowhere near as bad as when Yang was being pulled by the collar. They were nearing the top when they noticed that there was artillery waiting for intruders such as them.

"Oh shit!" yelled the girls as the guns opened fire. Yang fired Ember Celica at the guns to some degree of success. Cassie in the mean time was dodging all the fire she could, her aura taking a hit every now and then. She was getting tired from carrying Yang for so long, and she knew that her next summons would either be very weak, or she would be very tired.

"Yang this is where we get off!" she yelled flinging Yang onto what appeared to be the shoulder of the mech. Yang landed and started destroying all the batteries that she could get her hands on. Cassie landed beside her and started doing the same. They made quick work now that they were on land, but the ever-shifting mech made things more difficult.

"Hey, Cass, I found a hatch thingy over here!" yelled Yang over the noise of battle.

"Well, let's go say hello," said Cassie as Yang opened the hatch.

They popped inside and were met with ten White Fang soldiers. They started shooting as soon as the girls entered. Yang fired a blast behind her and charged right into the fray and started taking soldiers down. Cassie took a much different approach. She knelt down and pulled out her gun and made quick work of five of the soldiers with streams of dust. Yang just as quickly defeated her opponents.

"We make a good team," commented Yang.

"Yeah we do," responded Cassie, "Now, let's go and find the pilot."

The two dashed around trying to find a way to continue upwards. Quickly they found a ladder and they climbed it. There they met similar resistance to what they faced earlier, and again made quick work of their enemies. Out of nowhere the whole mech shook, and it started falling down, changing which way was up.

"Hold on!" said Yang, grabbing onto the nearest hand-hold she could find. Cassie wasn't so lucky, but Yang caught her before she could fall any further.

"Thanks," said Cassie.

"Hey, it's no problem," responded Yang as the robot they were in righted itself.

"That whole shaking thing is a good thing, 'cause that means Wiess is doing damage," observed Cassie.

"Yeah, your right," responded Yang, "Now let's make it easier for her."

The two continued eventually finding a door that looked like it housed something of importance.

"Let's bust it down!" yelled Yang.

"Be ready for whatever's in there okay," Cassie said.

"Sure thing," responded Yang, preparing her mechanical arm for an almighty punch, when to door was flung open, slamming Yang into the wall. An arm reached out and grabbed Cassie who was caught completely off-guard due to the sudden turn of events. She found herself being thrown across the room she was dragged into, destroying all the dust she was carrying on her back.

"Well, I'm surprised," said a familiar voice, "It seems as though taking your arm wasn't enough."

"Taurus?!" exclaimed Cassie.

"Who else did you expect human?" asked Adam from within the pilot's sphere, "Well, I would love to kill you now, I have another fight to attend to. The Schnee brat will be crushed by my hand."

"I don't think so," said Cassie, who got up to be met with an fist to her chest sending her careening to the wall.

"Your fight is not with Taurus, it is with me," said a large man. He stood at seven feet, towering over Cassie. He was incredibly muscular with his revealed forearms giving enough impression for the rest of his arms. He wore an olive three-quarter coat that did little to hide his imposing frame. Yatsuhashi matched him in height, but in presence, the giant boy had nothing on this mountain of a man.

"Well, big guy I guess it is," said Cassie drawing her blade.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" cursed Yang, "What the Hell just happened?! Think, Xiao-Long think."

She peered through a window and saw that Cassie was engaged with an opponent that literally dwarfed the girl. Hell, he even dwarfed Yang, and she was by no means a small girl. She knew that she had to help in some way or form, but what could she do? She already tried busting down the door, to no avail. Nothing she tried has worked so far, but she did notice that even though she was getting tossed around by the moving robot, they were not. This meant that that room was being kept stable by a gravity dust crystal. She was grateful that her father had insisted on her analysing things before she left for Mistral. Even though Yang payed very little attention in class, there were a few things that interested her, namely things that sounded cool. Gravity dust happened to be one of those thing, 'cause come on, something that affects gravity sounds pretty damn awesome.

Yang knew that gravity dust had to be near its source as it was extremely heavy and required a lot of energy in order to make it flow through any sort of dust system. Yang did manage to find the chamber that housed the power line, but it was going to take a while to get to it, she just hoped Cassie would be able to hold out for long enough.

Cassie charged at the massive man faking a downward strike which he evaded, to a slash to the side, catching him by his legs because of how tall the man was. He punched the ground where Cassie would have been if she had not rolled out of the way.

"You are quick, and strong. Not bad," said the man, "For a youngling, your technique is excellent."

"Never got a compliment from an opponent 'til now, but thanks," responded Cassie, "You're not too bad yourself."

She charged at him again, unleashing a flurry of strikes hoping to even put a dent on his aura, but nothing. She didn't stop though, she may have been tired, but she would never give up. The man just took everything she could throw at him. She retreated a little bit and pulled out her gun and she let off a stream of dust, only to see the man walk into it as though it was nothing. He got close enough and grabbed the barrel and Cassie decided that it would be best to abandon the weapon altogether. He quickly snapped the weapon in half and tossed it aside.

Cassie cursed under her breath as another fist came flying her way, and she twisted out of the way, only for the hand to follow her. He grabbed her head and slammed her into the ground face first. Her mask was somehow unharmed by that, but it didn't stop her from being thrown against yet another wall. Her aura was taking a beating and she had already started this fight off tired.

"Cass, if you can hear this, hang in there for a little while longer," said the voice of Yang in her ear," I'm nearing the powerline for the gravity dust around your room. I'll disable it and that should give both you and Wiess some sort of advantage. I'll let you know."

With a newfound goal, Cassie fought with more purpose. She tried her hardest to do something against the man, but he was just so strong that a dust blade just wasn't able to do enough. He had been able to shrug off any type of dust attack she threw at him, Hell he just walked through about twenty rounds of mixed dust rounds without even batting an eye. The only way she would be able to hope to hurt the man would be through a summon. She quickly came up with an idea.

Cassie created a summon around her body in order to amplify her physical strength and speed. She would not be able to maintain the form for too long, maybe two minutes at most. She just hoped Yang would be able to pull it off in time.

Yang was brute forcing her way through to the powerline, and it was tiring work. Not to mention the multitude of soldiers defending it, boy was that a nightmare.

"Can you just give up already!?" she questioned while punching out yet another White Fang soldier.

Wiess was having her own troubles, but at least she didn't have to deal with any attackers, as she had Blake defending her from those. Her Knight was doing what it could against the massive enemy that it was locked in battle against. At the beginning of the fight, it seemed as though she had the upper-hand doing major damage to the mech's right arm. After the loss of it's right arm, it started taking things more seriously. Wiess was put on the defensive blocking as many strikes as she could, but she felt every hit that the mech landed on her Knight through her aura. She knew she couldn't take much more, and from the looks of worry Blake kept sending her way, she knew too. All the two girls on the ground could do was hope that the two up in the air could do something… and fast.

"Finally!" exclaimed Yang as she reached the powerline, "Now which wire should I blast?"

She looked over the wires, but she knew that she had no clue what she was doing, so she made a quick decision, not before telling Cassie though.

Cassie's new summon based strength was able to make the man's aura flare, much more than she was able to accomplish earlier. The main issue was that she was tiring out to much. Suddenly her summon gave way, revealing how weak she truly was. Her sword clattered to the ground as her body was beginning to give out. Her wounds were finally starting to show, with little cuts and bruises strewn about her body, and she fell to her knees.

"Hmm, it seems as though your strength has run out," said the man, walking towards her, "It is a shame, if you were less tired, you may have had a chance."

"I'm not done yet asshole!" she exclaimed throwing a punch powered by her mechanical arm, but the man just caught it. Even with the arm propelling itself forward with dust, it wasn't generating enough force to push the man back, instead the man was actually forcing her arm back. This forced Cassie onto her back as she watched in horror as her mechanical elbow was forced to the ground. She tried to push back, but his strength was to much. Cracks in the shell were starting to show, and the forearm gave out shattering as his hand forced itself through hers, destroying the arm from the elbow down.

"I will make your death painless little one," said the man, "You fought with resolve that I have not seen before, and I commend you for that. However, this is the end for you."

He readied what would be the finishing punch when she heard Yang's voice through her mask, right when she needed it, "I'm blowin' this thing Cass, grab hold!"

Cassie did as instructed, and not a moment to soon as the entire chamber felt as though it was flipped on it's side. Adam was flung to the side of the pilot sphere, and the giant man to the wall.

"Danger, Danger," said the built in intercom, "Opening all emergency exits, evacuate immediately.

"Wiess, its not moving, hit it now!" yelled Blake, and Wiess did. She hit it with every ounce of remaining strength her Knight had before collapsing.

Blake witnessed the fall of both the mech and the Knight. The Knight dissipated in a shimmer of white, while the mech fell hard. She saw many little bodies running out into the ocean or wherever they could get away. They ended up running into military forces. She also saw a familiar yellow blob pull itself from the mech.

Cassie took this as her chance to escape, she still had enough aura to do one thing and she diverted that aura to strength as she summoned her wings and she took flight out of the nearest emergency exit.

"Taurus, we are leaving," said the man, grabbing the bull faunus out from the sphere and forcing him into an escape pod located nearby, "Our cause cannot lose you yet."

The man hopped in and launched the craft, and he set course for a White Fang base nearby.

Cassie had made it out of the mech, but she wasn't free yet. She could feel her body trying to shut itself down, but she pushed on, forcing herself to get to land. Her wings were not able to support her and she began slipping into unconsciousness. She tried making her way to the harbour, but she finally gave out, her wings dissipating and she entered free fall.


	14. P2C2 What the Future Holds

Ruby, Sun and Ilia had been running ever since they received the call from Blake. Ruby taking charge of the two faunus had them figuring out where the harbour actually was. Having found a direct path to the harbour the three reached it just in time to see the giant battle that had taken place. They saw the fall of the giant mech, the remaining soldiers fleeing the mech, a blonde emerging looking fairly smug, and a familiar figure flying out from the head.

"Hey, it's Cassie!" exclaimed Ruby, "Wait… her arm's gone," she said squinting.

Cassie was not flying well, and soon enough she entered free fall.

"Sun! Can you get me up there?" asked Ruby.

"Yeah, let me boost you!" he said using his clones to throw him up into the air, leaving one behind for Ruby to use. She jumped off of it and was met with a second which she also launched herself off of. As she reached the real Sun he wished her luck as he threw her towards Cassie.

Ruby used her Semblance to push herself the final bit of the distance. She caught the falling girl who was unconscious and took a good look at her. Her friend was in terrible shape. Her body was beginning to bruise over, with the parts of her skin showing through her torn clothing. Cuts were also scattered throughout her arm. Holding her limp friend in her hands scared Ruby. Having almost lost her friend once as well as losing others, she was scared that it could happen again. Ruby knew that even with her Semblance she could only make it so close to the harbour, so she decided to try and make their landing into the ocean as soft as she could. Her friend couldn't take much more punishment.

Cassie awoke with a harsh breath in to the bright sun in her eyes. Ruby's face suddenly came into view. She smiled softly in relief, glad to see her friend was awake. Cassie tried to get up, but Ruby put her hand on her shoulder to stop her from getting up.

"Hey, relax," Ruby said, "I've already set a distress beacon, so help will be here soon."

"That's good," Cassie said weakly, "Oh, I feel like crap."

"Well, you definitely look the part," responded Ruby.

"Heh," laughed Cassie, "How bad is it?"

"Well, I took off any extra clothes you had on, 'cause well, we were in water and well, you're really bruised, and cut up all over. I think you might have some broken bones too."

"Well, the asshole I fought packs a helluva punch," commented Cassie.

"Listen, Cassie. This scared me… Like really bad. I saw you fall, Cassie. You looked so vulnerable. You need to be more careful. I need you to be more careful," Ruby pleaded.

Cassie looked into the large silver eyes that she had come to adore. She saw the raw emotion that Ruby poured into the look of concern. She felt emotions that she felt only when Ethan was around, and she didn't know what to say. She felt cared for, she felt safe.

"Cassie, are you okay?" asked Ruby, "You're crying."

"Heh, I guess I am," stated Cassie, "Ruby, I… You're to kind to me. I know I'm not the greatest person, yet you put so effort into helping me. My recovery, you were there the whole time. No one's been there for me like that in a very long time. Thank you, Ruby, for just being there."

"Cassie, I'm not gonna leave you," said Ruby pulling the girl into a hug. Cassie leaned into the hug falling into a peaceful slumber

Ruby shifted around so her friend's head rested on her lap. Cassie looked peaceful for once, different than the other times that she had seen her sleep. Cassie always looked stressed when she slept. It might have had something to do with her past, and Ruby hoped that the stress didn't hurt her in the future. Through her observations Ruby noticed that Cassie always woke up at some point in the night from what appeared to be nightmares, but every time Ruby tried to confront her about it, Cassie brushed her off. Ruby took no offence, but it pained her to see someone so strong suffer so greatly.

She looked over her friend and took a better look at the extent of her injuries. Ruby had taken the liberty of removing Cassie's vest and leggings as to make sure the wounded girl wouldn't freeze. She also removed the gauntlet that Cassie always wore, and her arm was in terrible shape. It was laced with red marks and bruises due to all the blocking Cassie had to do. Ruby ran her hand lightly over the arm, she could only imagine the pain of fighting with an injury like that, a testament to Cassie's strength.

She'd already seen Cassie fight to what should have been the bitter end, and Ruby didn't know if she could do the same. Having lost her mother to the same thing had Ruby apprehensive about having the same fate. She always wanted to be a hero but witnessing Pyrrha almost die because she did what a hero would do. The Invincible Girl now was barely able to be herself, trapped within her own body.

Thinking about the future scared Ruby, she wanted to do what was right, but was she willing to pay the price? She did not know, but she hated seeing people around her hurt. Pyrrha, her sister, her friend. They didn't need to get hurt, but they did it for the greater good.

Brushing the hair from her friend's face she saw that her face was bruised from when her face was smashed into the ground. The mask somehow survived the fight, but after examining the mask, Ruby found that the HUD was completely busted meaning it was totaled. Cassie also lost all her weapons in the battle and the fact she was injured meant she would be out of commission for at least another week. Ruby wasn't worried about the that, she was worried about how hurt Cassie was. Another grave injury would probably affect her friend worse mentally than physically. After the injury form the fight against Grimm Pyrrha put Cassie in a bad spot, and Ruby didn't know if Cassie could cope with more time spent in recovery.

Yang had made her way over to Blake who was lying in a cot in the Atlas barracks. Her ears were out in the open, different than what Yang had seen before Blake's departure back in Vale. Her outfit had changed just as much as Yang's had, both sporting long coats in their respective colours.

"Blake, I know you know I'm here, so we should just get this out of the way," stated Yang, "Let's talk."

Blake turned herself to face Yang, waking up from her nap, "You're right Yang. We do need to talk… I hoped I'd get some more time to think things over, but you deserve an explanation most of all. I left you and I see that I made a mistake doing so. So much happened, and it changed me, both good and bad."

"Well, we got time Blake, and I'm not too happy with you right now," stated Yang, "You left me when I needed you Blake. Wiess was taken, Ruby was in a coma, but you… you just left. It hurt Blake. I lost my arm trying to help you. It made me lose who I was. Just please tell me… Tell me why you left."

"Yang… I had to protect you-"

"That's bullshit, and you know it Blake. That's not why you left. If you wanted to protect me while I was at my worst, you would have stayed!" exclaimed Yang, "I like to think I was there when you needed me, but maybe I wasn't…"

"No! Yang, you didn't do anything wrong. I did everything wrong. W-When Adam said he'd kill everyone I loved, and you were right there I… I was scared, and then you lost your arm. I thought I had to get away from you, so nothing would happen," Blake stated.

"I ended up going to Menagerie Island hoping to find answers, and Sun ended up following me, I still think of it as stalking, that's besides the point. Going to the place where the White Fang originated seemed like a good place to get answers, and we did find some. Though we did run into problems," told Blake.

"When Sun and I arrived in Menagerie, things seemed normal. We went to find my parents, and I was apprehensive to speak with them after the way I left back when I joined the radical faction of the Fang, but they cared more about how I was than about what happened back then. We reconciled, and I was incredibly surprised by their reaction. I didn't realise how much I missed them. Things took a turn for the worse afterwards as we were met with the White Fang that Adam had created, under the guise of the original. We met with one of my past friends who joined us. Originally, she believed in what Adam was doing, taking revenge on humans because of what happened in the past, fighting for dominance rather than equality. We ended up fighting her at first. She hurt Sun, but she made sure not to kill him. After speaking with my father, we found a new goal; to resurrect the old White Fang. It was a noble goal, but we were met with resistance. My father was the one who convince my friend Ilia, not me. After coming to an agreement, we started our movement against the other faction.

We did manage to gain some ground, but an unexpected attack ruined the ground we had made. Humans, out of nowhere just destroyed one of the harbours. They showed no remorse brutally killing everyone that got in their way. But the attacks didn't stop there… They kept coming, slaughtering innocent faunus left and right. It hit me hard. My parents still had a following so they were safe, but news of my betrayal made it unsafe for me to stay. So, we ran. My parents stayed behind to continue what we started, but my time in Menagerie had a price, my judgement. I started thinking like I used to, beginning to judge humans like Adam did. I… fought Ruby's friend because of that judgement…"

"Heh, now that's one Hell of an explanation. Blake, I see why you left me, but please Blake don't do it again. I don't know if I could handle it…" said Yang looking downcast

"Yang look at me," Blake, "I know that I've been a terrible friend, a terrible partner, yet you've given me the chance to explain myself even though I don't deserve it. Yang I promise you that I won't leave you ever again."

Blake hugged Yang akin to what happened when Yang told the story of her mother. The two girls cried into each other's shoulders, happy to be reunited.

"Well, Blake it's amazing to have you back. Now team RWBY is officially reunited!" Yang tearfully exclaimed.

"Yeah, we are," Blake responded, equally as joyful.

"Hey, Blakey, I… Uh, so you wanna go find Wiess?" asked Yang.

"What's the matter Xiao-Long cat got you're tongue?" asked Blake.

"Oh, my heart Blake, you have hurt it so. I wonder if you can repair this damage you have caused me," Yang expressed in mock pain.

"Oh, I believe I can," said Blake punching Yang on the shoulder.

"Blakey!"

Cassie awoke to a bright light shining in her face, and to a friendly face looking over her.

"Hey Ruby," Cassie rasped, "Shit! My voice sounds awful," she said before she coughed.

"Hey, take it easy," demanded Ruby, "For your information, your ribs were pretty darn broken. So was your arm. Cassie… What happened?"

"New bad guy. He's huge, like Yatsu big, much more muscular though. Taurus is back. The big guy-" Cassie managed to say before her chest flared in pain, "He- He kicked my ass Ruby. He's really dangerous, there is no way any of us can fight him alone-" she said as she clutched her chest, "Dammit. I think there's gonna be something big happening, I just don't know when-"

"Cassie, please stop. You're hurting yourself," pleaded Ruby.

"Okay Ruby," agreed Cassie, "So how long will I be out of commission?"

"The doctor says about a week," answered Ruby.

"Heh, not so bad," said Cassie, "At least it's not another month."

"Yeah, and this time you can walk from the get go," said Ruby.

"That's good-" Cassie said before clutching her chest.

"Hey, let's get you back to Haven,"

"So, Blake… How was your time with Sun?" Yang asked with a wink.

"Well, he's not a bad guy, and I certainly did appreciate his help, I didn't take the fact that he stalked me to kindly," responded Blake as they walked towards Haven.

"Huh… Not as steamy as I thought," stated Yang.

"Whatever Yang. So how did you end up here?" asked Blake.

"Well, I actually arrived a lot later than Ruby," replied Yang.

"Really?" asked Blake incredulously.

"I told you that I was in a bad place when I lost my arm, but I never told you how bad," stated Yang, "When it happened, I had no hope, no drive, no purpose. For the first two weeks I only got out of bed to go to the washroom. My father tried to talk to me I just wouldn't respond. When Ruby woke up, I didn't even get up to see her. My own sister Blake! I didn't even react to her waking up. I just felt sorry for myself to the point where I just didn't care. I… I didn't even get to return the 'I love you' before she left. I'm a terrible sister. I should have been stronger for her-"

"Yang, you are strong. Losing your arm is very traumatic. No one expected you to get up right away-" Blake tried to say.

"No Blake! I'm a failure. I couldn't even reach Ruby in time to save her! Someone else did that and she almost paid for my failure with her life. I… I can't fail her again, I can't fail you…" Yang said.

"Yang, you didn't fail anyone. I… failed you. I should have stayed, so you could have recovered quicker," said Blake.

"Blake, you did what you thought you had to do… I may not like what you did, but I do respect your decision," Yang replied.

"Yang, if your trying to make me feel better, it's working," Blake said as she smiled.

"Heh, maybe your right," agreed Yang, "I guess in a way, we both failed each other."

"Yeah, we did," stated Blake, "But let's promise not to fail each other again."

"I can get behind that," responded Yang.

"Yang Xiao-Long, I promise never to fail you again," stated Blake.

"Aww, getting sentimental are we," said Yang, "Well Blake Belladonna, I promise to never fail you too."

The two continued walking for another few minutes, closing in on Haven academy. The two made their way over to the reception area.

"So, umm, you wanna room with us?" asked Yang.

"Sure," said Blake nonchalantly.

"You don't even know the sleeping situation!" exclaimed Yang, "That's actually something you should know before you agree."

"Is there an issue?" asked Blake.

"Well, you know… the girl you were fighting earlier… Well she's also rooming with us," Yang said.

"Well we need to talk anyways," Blake stated, "I owe her a huge apology."

"I think she'll let it go," responded Yang, "She wouldn't even let me be mad at myself."

"Thanks Yang," said Blake, "Will we actually all fit?"

"Well, the rooms here in Haven are like huge Blakey," said Yang, "All of team RWBY and another team could fit, and we'd still have room! It's basically a house!"

"Okay Yang, I guess that settles it," Blake responded.

Ruby walked Cassie over to where Ethan's team resided. They knocked on the door and were met with an exhausted looking Maya who answered their knock. From the opening they could see an equally tired looking Opal and Angela.

"Hey girls," said the older trio in sync.

"Cassie! What the Hell happened!" yelled Maya as she looked over Cassie.

"Well, there's new baddies in town," said Cassie, "They did a number on me, that's for sure."

"Okay Cassandra, what seems to be the extent of your injuries?" asked Angela.

"I think my some of my ribs are busted and so is my arm," responded Cassie.

"That's what the medic said," added Ruby.

"Alright," responded Angela ushering the duo in, "I assume that you want some proper medical treatment."

"That's why we came," stated Cassie.

"Oh, and to get a new arm for Cass!" Ruby blurted out.

"Wait!" exclaimed Opal, "What happened to the arm!"

"Thanks for the sympathy Opal," Cassie said, "But the guy I fought… He beat the arm. His strength out-powered it Opal. I met his punch, but he just pushed through and crushed it in a matter of seconds…"

"What… Holy shit," cursed Opal, "That bad huh?"

"Yeah," responded Cassie.

"Okay Cassandra, if you could enter my office, I would be glad to help you," said Angela.

"Afterwards come see me Sandy," said Opal, "'Kay?"

"Sure thing," responded Cassie.

"Hey Ruby, why don't you help me draft up Sandra's new arm?"

"Awesome!" exclaimed Ruby.

Cassie sat down on a chair in the office, and Angela began her investigation, and as the woman was a perfectionist, she cringed at the work the Atlas medics had done on the girl.

"My, my, these Atlas medics have just gotten worse over the years," observed Angela.

"So, whatcha planning on doing?" asked Cassie.

"Well, you have four broken ribs, and your forearm is almost completely shattered. At least they gave you a cast, although it is not up to the standard-" said Angela.

"Literally nothing is up to your standard," interrupted Cassie, "But what's the issue?"

"The cast is fairly rudimentary," stated Angela, "Some dust in tandem with an aura booster should be able to quicken the process."

"I can always count on you to make a better solution," praised Cassie.

"I try to do my best for the team," stated Angela as she applied the cast, "I wasn't able to help Ethan, but at least I can help you. You are his legacy after all."

"Hey, the only person who could've actually done something was me…" Cassie stated glumly, "I was just too weak to do anything."

"Cassandra, you were never weak," assured Angela, "You fought incredibly for such a young girl. Look at yourself now Cassandra. You're growing into an great woman. I like to believe he would be proud of you."

"Thanks Angel," Cassie said with a smile.

"You continue to flatter me with that nickname Cassandra," responded Angela, "I am no angel. I just take pride in my work."

"Alright, I get it," said Cassie as she hugged Angela, "But thanks. There's no one out there like you."

Angela was surprised by this, but she returned it nonetheless. The little girl she once knew had grown immensely with time. The timid girl who barley spoke a word now formulated her own opinions and spoke of them with confidence and knowledge superior to the students she worked with in the past. It pleased Angela to know that the girl was turning out alright.

"I still need to treat your ribs, so I ill need you to remove your shirt and…" said Angela.

"Oh!" exclaimed Cassie, "You mean my bra… and I just realised what I said…"

"Your lack of tact still amuses me," said Angela, "Anyhow I just need to apply the same solution to your chest, and due to where some of the breaks are I will need to apply some of it to your… breasts."

"Oh, a gorgeous woman fondling the breasts of little ol' me," said Cassie as she smirked, "A lotta men would pay a tonne of Lien to see that."

"Of course, you would make such a joke," laughed Angela, "I certainly know you will enjoy this."

"I mean, you're not wrong," said Cassie as she removed her bra, "You are definitely good-looking, but my heart belongs to someone else."

"Ah, you mean Ruby, correct?" asked Angela as she applied the dust mixture.

"What!?" exclaimed Cassie.

"Opal told me," stated Angela.

"How does she know!?" asked Cassie.

"She is much more observant than you think," responded Angela.

"…"

"Oh Opal, look at all the tech you have!" exclaimed Ruby, "It's so awesome!"

"Well, that's what happens when you work with Hunter prosthetics," responded Opal, "It also helps that I like to tinker around with weapons in my past time."

The workshop that Opal dubbed the 'Opal Room' was coloured to its namesake, but that colour could barely be seen through the masses of little trinkets, tools and such related to prosthetic and weapon repair. Ruby looked around awestruck as ideas flew through her head, thinking of all the possible weapons she could create, as well as ways to help improve Cassie's next arm. Opal was also thinking, but mainly about why the arm she created was destroyed. The fact that it was bested in a bout of strength was a frightening thought.

"So, what do you think is a good way to start?" asked Ruby.

"Well, I think the main issue with the arm was the strength it could output somehow wasn't enough," said Opal, "I'm thinking we use dust to power the actuators instead of hydraulics. They're less power efficient but, I know they output more power than hydraulics."

"Aren't those expensive?" asked Ruby.

"Yup," responded Opal, "But Cassie signed for a research grant from Atlas, so you can probably guess what that goes into."

"Do you use this stuff for other clients?" Ruby asked.

"Oum no!" exclaimed Opal, "This cool tech is reserved for the team and Cassie. I'd run out of this if other people bought this stuff."

"Makes sense," replied Ruby, "Well I think we should keep the general design from the model you just made. Maybe allow for the thrusters used when it's attached to the socket."

"Originally thought that would be a bad idea, but if we're facing an opponent with that kind of strength, Cassie can use whatever extra power she can get," Opal agreed.

"She was in rough shape Opal," said Ruby.

"I know kid…" responded Opal after a second, "This wasn't the first and I don't think it'll be the last. She finds herself in pretty shitty situations as you've probably heard from her, and the fact that you've now witnessed two of 'em. I just hope she doesn't do something permanent. When you first brought her in… That was a real scare Ruby. She's gotten hurt pretty bad before, but this was somethin' else. She's like a sister to me… and I would probably be devastated if something… Look if there's an injury she'll get past it. I just hope her spirit never breaks."

"She's tough…" replied Ruby.

"She sure is, but no matter how much she denies it, she needs someone," said Opal, "She had Ethan for a while, when he passed Qrow took over for a bit. When Cassie left for Atlas, Winter Schnee of all people helped her out. And finally, you Ms. Rose. You are the most recent one, and you've done a good job so far. I hope you'll keep it up, but I know better than to get my hopes up."

"I won't leave her Opal," Ruby stated, "I would have died if it weren't for her. The only people who would've done the same are my team or family. I met her a few days before and she was there when I needed it most. Even when I should've done something to stop it from happening she didn't even think to blame me. She made me feel more certain. She trusts in me, and I trust in her. I will make sure that I continue to be there for her."

"Heh, your just what she needs," replied Opal, "Maybe she's also what you need from the sound of it."

"Yeah," said Ruby, "The time I've spent with her has been great so far. Cass talks much more when it's just us. She's actually really enthusiastic when we talk about stuff that interests her. Its nice to see her happy, even though I haven't seen much of it. She's listened to all my problems, and she's really cool about everything. She listens even better than Yang if you can believe it."

"Oh, I certainly can," replied Opal as she finished drafting up a design for the new arm, "And I also see some gushing."

"Huh?" asked Ruby.

"Do you like spending time with Sandy?" asked Opal.

"Yeah, it's great," answered Ruby, "She's just fun to be around."

"Never heard that before," replied Opal, "I've mostly heard: 'It's 'cause she's hot' and 'I feel bad for her.' Those are the people I usually scare off. They're the most likely to hurt her anyways. She also despises pity like no one else. You, I like you. Don't change that."

"I'd never hurt her!" exclaimed Ruby.

"Heh, good," replied Opal with a smile, "You wouldn't like what would happen if you did."

"You don't mean that-" said Ruby before she looked at Opal's face, "Okay, maybe you do. Well I meant what I said too."

"Well alright then," responded Opal, "I think this has taken a little bit turn to the serious side of things. Let's change that."

Opal handed the design over to Ruby who was surprised in the amount of detail that Opal was able to put into a five-minute draft. No matter how modest Opal was, she was truly a genius. Ruby, who had already taken a look at the original blueprints, saw that Opal had completely redrafted it from memory with the only differences being major improvements. Completely new motors, tougher outer shell and an added actuator to add power to punches and pushes. The draft looked less robust than the its predecessor, but it was a lot more dangerous.

"How did you do this so quickly?!" exclaimed Ruby.

"Experience," stated Opal, "I've been at this for a few years, so I've been able to experiment. Working with a client like Cassie, allows for me to see the worst-case scenarios 'cause the gets into them on almost a weekly basis. She is literally the reason why my products last so long. They're built to last, even if she breaks 'em literally no one else will do what she does."

"She's already gone through two," Ruby remembered.

"Exactly my point," replied Opal, "I just hope that one day she doesn't push too hard."

Cassie and Angela left the office to find Wiess chatting with Maya.

"Hello Cassandra," greeted Wiess looking tired, mostly due to her extensive use of her summons.

"Hey Wiess," Cassie returned, "So what brings you here?"

"Well I am in need of something to help my aura as I have used it rather extensively," answered Wiess, "And I heard that Ms. Moonflower would be able to help me."

"You heard correctly Ms. Schnee," replied Angela, "Now if you would follow me into my office, I would be happy to treat you."

Wiess and Angela exited the room and Cassie jumped onto the freed-up couch with a resounding flop.

"You could put on a shirt you know," said Maya as she watched.

"Too tired," replied Cassie, "Don't care."

"How bad was it this time?" asked Maya.

"Not as bad as last time, and I did come to you first," answered Cassie.

"Cass, you know we worry about you," said Maya.

"I know, and I understand, but this is the line of work I signed up for," responded Cassie.

"While that may be true, you're so young and have had more close-calls than anyone within ten years of your age," said Maya, "Now tell me truthfully, how bad was it?"

"The guy I was facing was completely out of my league," said Cassie, "He was huge and quick. He caught me mid-dash and slammed me into the ground like I was a paperweight. He… he would have killed me if it weren't for Yang disabling the mech."

"I… How did this even end up happening Cassie?" asked Maya, "Again! Why Cassie?! This can't keep happening. One day it'll be too much for you. It's not just you. Caution goes a long way, but you keep throwing it to the wind."

"I…" stuttered Cassie.

"Cassie, we love you, just as much as we loved Ethan," stated Maya tearfully, "It hurt when we lost him. You're his legacy. He took care of you, so you could grow into someone he could be proud of someday. He loved you like a daughter and he was always so happy when you achieved something. We'd never here the end of it. I see why. You're such a strong girl and you're only fifteen. Imagine what you could be when you're our age. We all want you to make it, but if you're not careful you might not. My deepest regret was not telling him how I felt. I don't want you dying with that same regret, or that pain for someone else, so for the love of Oum don't throw your life away."

"You're… right," Cassie said through teary eyes, "I… felt like I had no purpose Maya. I thought that maybe it was my fate to just be a soldier who did what was necessary for others. I know you guys weren't there for me as much as you would've liked, and me moving to the Atlas barracks didn't help much, but you guys did whatever you could to help me out. Opal with her tech, Angela patching me up, and you being there whenever I needed a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk to. I thought it was all for Ethan, but it was never just for Ethan. You cared… You cared about me."

"Yes, we do," said Maya pulling Cassie into a hug, "We always have. Now that we're back together we can do more for you."

"Yeah…" replied Cassie, returning the embrace, "Thank you," she whispered into Maya's shoulder."

"You're always welcome here Cass,"

 **Just gonna leave this here, cause well I enjoy writing this. In the works are two other stories that I should have published sometime before the end of December.**


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